Green Moon Eyes
by wrongful
Summary: When Cedar, a young scavenger, has his village burned to the ground, he's the sole survivor, having fled to the rainforest. There, he meets the newly-hatched Moonwatcher, left by her mother alone in the frightening rainforest. Both are in need of a family, and both find comfort and solace in one another. Rated T for language. (Finally back from my hiatus!)
1. Newborn

Cedar was dead.

His legs ached from his mad sprint, and his lungs felt burnt and raw with ash and smoke. Screams rang in his ears, both that of the prey's shrieks of terror and the predator's war cries. The blasts disoriented him, and the dust blinded him. Had there not been two moons out that night, his escape would have been hopeless.

The muscles in his body ached like they never had before, as he continued his dash for safety, away from the barbarians that sought his head. Why, he didn't know, he didn't care, all he knew was they wanted to spill his blood and they wanted it badly.

He ran south, sparing not a thought for the others in his village. The enemy struck swiftly and brutally that night; his home was overwhelmed immediately. For all he knew, he was the only one left alive. But the other tribe, whoever they were, were not the kind to leave a job unfinished, and were following him with the express intent of tying up that one last loose thread.

On the horizon, he spotted the shape of the massive rainforest form, dense and black despite the light of the moons. He changed his mind on destination, and with it his course, running full-tilt to the rainforest to lose his pursuers.

Maybe they were gone, maybe they were right behind him. He couldn't risk a backward glance to check, lest one of their blood-stained spears be jabbed between his tired eyes. Better safe than sorry, he figured, as he kept moving to what would be his safe haven.

Even as he broke the tree line, his pace never faltered. His legs felt as though they were about to combust, but they kept pistoning forward despite it all. He weaved between trees and dodged low-hanging vines and branches. As he launched himself further and deeper into the rainforest, the moonlight struggled more and more to break the canopy above and light his path, eventually leaving him alone in the dark as he kept fleeing the apparent danger chasing him.

With his vision impaired from the lack of light, Cedar could not keep up the pace forever, as his foot caught on the root of one of many looming trees. He let out a startled yell as his stride was unexpectedly broken, and he fell to the ground. He tried in vain to raise his arms to soften his fall, still only hitting the ground flat on his face.

He laid there for a long moment, fearing that the barbarians may still be on his tail, that this small tumble was enough for them to finally catch up, of what they would do to him; fearing that a spear or sword may suddenly skewer the small of his back, or some rainforest creature would eat him alive. It was pitch black here, anything could come out at any moment and kill, kill, kill, kill, kill…

...And that moment never came.

His chest burnt out and his legs reeling in exhaustion, Cedar slowly managed to lift his head up just slightly from the dirt, enough to at least look around. It wasn't pitch dark, but light was scarce in this dense jungle. He could clearly see that there was nobody around, however; neither savages nor rainforest monsters.

He was completely alone and lost here.

He'd run so deep into the woods, he had no clue how to get back. Even if he did manage to find his way home, what home was there to return to? Who would be there to welcome him? A fellow survivor? One of those psychopaths who burned the whole place to the ground? He couldn't exactly fight them if that was the case. He was always scrawny, the runt of the bunch. It was a miracle he came this far anyway. Hell, after that sprint, he doubted he'd be able to run for a while; he felt numb, but wouldn't be surprised to later find he sprained his ankle or tore a muscle.

All there was to do was mourn.

And mourn he did.

As he moaned and sobbed into the dirt floor, he didn't care if his cries had him caught and killed. He'd lost so much in the span of a few hours, his own life would serve as only a small addition to the pile. His family, his home, his people, all reduced to piles of ash and gore.

The whole scenario made him think, why him? Why, of all the able-bodied and intelligent people in his small tribe, did he of all people survive? Maybe there was some bigger purpose to all this, like fate or destiny. Maybe it was as simple as he was the first to run.

Or maybe they were all fine, fended off the invasion, and he was the doomed one.

As his energy began to slowly return to him, he weakly grabbed onto a low hanging vine and tried to pull himself up, while grabbing at anything he could for support. After some trial, error, and a small handful of further faceplants, he eventually managed to stand upright, leaning his back up on a massive looming tree for support. Once he was finally on two legs, he had a glance around the vicinity.

It's dark. A small few rays manage to pierce the thick canopy of the dense rainforest, scarcely illuminating the area. Anything could jump out from five feet in front of him, and he'd never see it coming.

Deciding that he can't stay here much longer, Cedar wiped his face of tears and mud, only serving to smudge it. He took a step forward, and instantly collapsed into the ground. After pulling himself up and repeating this cycle a few times, he successfully took a few steps forward, aided only by the support of the strong vines draping down from above him. He crashed into the side of another tree, about a half dozen paces away from the previous one, but he still stood.

With this support, he slowly began the process of staggering his way through the shadowy rainforest. Having forgotten which way he came, he had no general direction in mind, aside from somewhere safe. Safer than here, at the very least.

As he was trudging through a more shaded section, behind the dark, hulking mass of a tree, something suddenly swept through the overgrowth nearby, and large, pounding footsteps echoed through the woods. Startled, Cedar's grip on the vine he was holding slipped, and he collapsed into the ground for the umpteenth time that night. Now in a stable position, he was paralyzed with fear; What was that noise? How close was it? Was it partial to eating him alive?

He scooted back further into the shadow of the tree. He couldn't run in his condition, but he could still hide. He carefully peeked out from the dark, and stared at where the noise had come from. It had not stopped since he had first heard it; in fact, it only grew more frequent, and ever louder.

As the noise level reached its apex, a massive figure came pushing through the foliage, and from it came rushing a massive Nightwing.

Cedar's breath hitched. He'd hardly seen many dragons before, and never from this close. More importantly, what was a Nightwing doing in the rainforest? Nobody knew exactly from where the species hailed - the topic was hotly debated among human scholars – but most agreed that the rainforest, of all places, wasn't a possibility.

So, why was it here? Interestingly enough, Cedar found himself staring at the dragon's face, yet only found an expression carved into it that almost seemed to mimic concern and fear.

As the titanic creature darted off in the opposite direction, Cedar was stuck on what to do. The thing could tear him to shreds in a split second if he was he caught. But some part of him, some curious and young side of his mind, told him to see what it was up to. Perhaps it had resources or shelter wherever it was going. Who knows; maybe it was on its way out of the forest, the same as he was.

But deeper down, some darker part of him whispered the real reason he wanted to follow. Everything and everyone he'd ever known and loved was gone, scorched from the face of the earth so quickly, as though all the things that made up his entire life were never there at all. He wasn't sure if he'd survive this, but to him, it didn't matter. In a certain sense, a part of had already withered away when the fires in his home broke out.

Cedar was already dead.

Shaking his head of such depressing thoughts, he started to limp his way after it, a newfound vigor in his movements. Doing his best to remain quiet, he kept a safe distance away from the Nightwing, hoping the faint sounds of him rustling through the grass wouldn't give him away. The dragon wasn't making things easy for him, however; it was constantly glancing around and over its shoulder, as though it were expecting to be followed. The fact that it was far larger than him and thus moved far faster didn't exactly help, either.

It eventually reached a large overgrowth that almost seemed to act as some kind of wall. The dragon took one last glance at its surroundings, with Cedar just barely managing to take cover behind a large shrub in time. The dragon raised its large talons and parted the vines, before stepping through. Cedar, his curiosity growing even further, began to quietly tread towards the wall, and stuck his head through to peek around.

The first thing that hit him was just how bright the clearing beyond was compared to the rest of the forest. A gaping hole in the canopy above let the full strength of the moonlight pierce the branches and coat the jungle floor. It was a beautiful sight for Cedar's young eyes to behold, but what shocked him most was what was in the middle of the clearing, currently bathing in the incandescence of the moon's rays.

A lone egg, smooth and glowing silver.

A number of thoughts hit Cedar's mind at once. The dragon he followed here, who was currently staring in awe at the egg, must have been its mother. He thought he saw a single tear drip from its – no, her, eye.

For another, he suddenly felt that he shouldn't be here; as if he was intruding on a sacred and personal ritual. Just gazing at the scene unfold before him made him feel unlawful, unholy, perverted. He almost turned to leave, but just as he was about to, his previous curiosity flared to life again, and it told him to stay. He felt wrong, but that part of him wanted him to observe.

An audible crack came from the egg and resonated through the clearing. Cedar flinched at the noise, which was soon followed by another, and another, until the shell of the egg shattered like glass into a thousand pieces.

Cedar gasped, and ducked his head down below the leaves. After taking a brief moment to collect himself, he, very slowly, inched the vines away from his vision to take another peek at the scene in the clearing.

Where the egg once stood was now a pile of broken shells and, in the middle, a lone hatchling, its scales sleek and ebony, gazing up in wonder at its mother and the two bright moons in the sky.

As he gazed at the newly hatched dragonet, he suddenly recalled something he heard in a lesson about dragons back in his tribe. He paid little mind to most of his other classes, but for some reason, anything involving dragons always had him snap into attention. Humans didn't know too much about dragons as a whole, but they had picked up a few details throughout time.

Male dragons tend to have more angular, boxy faces, while the females have more rounded and curved ones. Upon further examination of the two Nightwings, they both had curved faces.

So they're both females. _A mother and her daughter_, he thought.

The smaller Nightwing let out a soft squeak, and shook more of the shells off of her, her smaller wings unfurling as she stretched herself out. She turned her gaze upward again, towards the two great moons in the sky. She reached her talons upwards toward the sky, as if she were trying to pluck the moons right out of it. Cedar thought she almost would, until the mother wrapped her talons, gently, around the newborn and lifted her up.

She lifted her up at about eye level, as though to help the dragonet make that final reach for the moons, before bringing her down and holding her tight against her chest. The mother cooed soothingly into the child's ear, eliciting another squeak from the young one as she leaned to cuddle into her mother's loving embrace.

Cedar felt his heart tug at the cozy, affectionate display. His eyes, already wet from his own loss earlier that night, beginning to water faintly. A smile forced itself onto his face as he wiped the tears away. He pushed the vines back inwards as they were and stood up.

But just as he turned to leave, a loud, guttural roar cut through the forest. The air suddenly felt thick. The fear he didn't realize had faded away suddenly returned with a vengeance. It was deep, masculine, violent. He realized that it seemed to come from the other side of the clearing.

His breaths shortening, he quickly crouched back down and reopened his window between the vines. The Nightwing mother seemed to have heard it, too. She had her head up, looking around nervously in the direction of the roar. She glanced down at her newborn dragonet, who, strangely enough, was sound asleep in her arms, unfazed by the noise.

She whispered something into her ear, with a sense of urgency to it. The dragonet's tired eyes fluttered open as she looked up once more at her mother's face. The mother whispered again, as if to repeat herself.

"Awrk?" the newborn sounded, pure and innocent into her very soul.

The mother lifted the dragonet into her arms and moved her to a darker, more shadowy section of the clearing. She tucked her in a small crevice between a fallen log and some thicker ferns. The mother began to rip up other nearby foliage and covering her hidden corner with it. The dragonet let out a saddened squeak as she tried to push away from the cover and reach for the moonlight again. Her mother shook her head and pushed her back into the shadows.

Cedar dared to shift his position closer to the shadows.

The newborn lunged outward and caught her mother's claw in her talons. "Rrrrk?" she asked, looking up at her mother. "Arrwrk?"

The mother whispered something more to her child, sounding frightened. The entire time she spoke, her baby stared deep into her eyes; as though she could see past them and gain a deeper understanding. Strangely, the child began to step further into the corners, and pulled up a small pile of leaves around herself.

That was odd. One moment she's dying to get back in the light, and the next she's further hiding herself in the shadows. She just hatched before his eyes; dragons couldn't learn that quickly, could they?

Another roar tore through the forest, causing both Cedar and the mother to jump. It sounded closer. She whispered one final goodbye to her child, before unfurling her wings. Her tears hit the ground with a faint plop, as she lifted herself from the ground with a powerful flap, and took off in the direction of the roar.

As the sound of her wingbeats faded away, the forest was encased in a sudden and suffocating silence.

A cricket chirped in the distance.

A lizard scurried out of the shadows, across the clearing and back into the darkness.

Cedar shuffled a bit, rustling some leaves.

A jaguar roared from far away.

"Awrk?" A small, very small voice cried from the hollow.

Cedar's gut wrenched.

Some bird let out a caw not too far away.

The branches creaked under the weight of the massive vines.

A frog began to croak somewhere nearby.

"Awrk?" It was softer this time.

The rainforest only responded with more white noise.

Drips and drops could be faintly heard all around as rain began to fall.

A long, painful silence.

"...Mramhy?"

Cedar fell to his knees and began to cry. He wasn't sure what the context of the tearjerking situation was, but somehow, what happened resonated in him. Here she was, not two hours old and she was already left in the dark and the rain with nobody. Like him, she was lost and all alone.

He knew he had to stay away, lest he possibly get mauled by the newborn dragon who was still almost his full height, but some part of him wanted to approach the hatchling and give her a warm hug, to tell her that everything would be okay, that she didn't have to suffer alone like he was. He thought about how he wanted to let her cry as long as she needed into his shoulder, to keep her company and giver her comfort until – if – her mother returned.

As these thoughts passed through his head, he heard a shuffling from the fern where the dragonet was hiding. In a flash of panic, he ducked behind a tree, out of sight. When he did, he heard a soft peep from the fern and more rustling. After a moment of calming himself, he moved back out from behind the tree, and dared to stare directly into the fern where the young dragon was hiding.

And peering back at him were two bright, green eyes.

He couldn't look away. He saw her, she saw him.

She was laying down on her stomach, her head low, almost as though she were about to pounce forward, though more relaxed. Her eyes were filled with emotions he couldn't describe; some sense of wonder, a hint of fear, and yet maybe a slight glimpse of understanding. And as he stared, he felt that same feeling from before; as if she was looking past him, and could read his mind.

Carefully, he took a few tentative steps out from behind the tree, fully revealing his presence to the dragon. She hardly reacted besides turning her head to face him, her tail gently wagging, as though expecting something. He kept standing there awkwardly, not exactly sure what to do.

"Uh… h-hi."

"Rrk." At this, the young dragon suddenly stood up, leaves falling off her back. Cedar stumbled, landing flat on his back, scooting backward up against a nearby tree. Now that she knew he was here, he couldn't escape, dragons were far faster and stronger than humans, even newborns.

The dragon sensed his obvious fear and began a more slow approach, one small step at a time, curving around him rather than going head on. The two kept eye contact the entire time, until the Nightwing found herself at his side. Cedar watched her nervously. Slowly, ever so carefully, she bent her head down and gently nudged his arm with it. He lifted it away in response, allowing the dragon to move closer and rest her head in his lap, cuddling against him.

Cedar was at a loss for words. As slowly as she was, he moved his free hand downward, his fingers barely grazing over her smooth, newborn scales, before eventually caressing her head fully. A low purr vibrated from her throat. He began to calm down; so she didn't want to kill him, she just wanted some company.

He immediately felt guilty. He shouldn't have thought her a savage killer. It was in her eyes; she was pure, innocent, carefree, very little unlike any human child.

He leaned his head back against the tree, exhaustion beginning to overtake him…

...Only for a droplet of water to smack him in the nose.

Cedar awoke with a start; that's right, it was raining. More droplets began to hit him and the Nightwing, who lifted her head up in confusion as well. She gazed upward, taking in all the sensations of the rainfall. The soft patter on the ground and against the leaves, the sudden drop in temperature, the water hitting her scales and washing down them. Then, a droplet hit her on the snout, too, as she blinked and looked down.

Cedar couldn't help but chuckle just a bit at her innocence. She turned to look at him, confusion written across her face. They couldn't stay out here in this weather.

He pointed to the fern hollow her mother had made. "We can stay in there until the storm passes," he spoke. He didn't expect her to understand, but shockingly, she rose from his lap with a brief "Rruk!" and darted under the hollow tree.

It was strange, he realized, how she seemed to understand everything that was going through his mind. He never doubted that dragons were intelligent creatures; it was hard to, with their massive castles dotting the land. But nobody, dragon or no, could be that understanding. Could they?

He noticed the rain pick up, and he rose from the tree to take cover under the fern with the Nightwing.

Once he had crawled under and made himself comfortable, his new dragon friend picked up a small pile of leaves in her talons. Before he could ask what she was doing, she tossed the pile upward.

Before the leaves could fall, she quickly snuggled up against Cedar and got into a sleeping position as the leaves settled atop of them. "Rmmh," she insisted.

_She's trying to keep me hidden as well as her_, he realized, brushing a leaf off his face. He rested a hand on her head again, before leaning his head back against the side of the hollowed-out trunk.

Sleep took him not long after that.

* * *

**Hi, it's Mr. Doesn't-Log-Into-His-Account-For-Months-Then-Suddenly-Drops-A-3k-Word-Chapter-With-No-Warning.**

**I'll be honest, I had the intention of never returning to writing again. My old works were lame and painful to read, and I just wanted to let this place die. Then a stupid story idea hits my brain, I'm in love with it and here we are.**

**I'm also feeling sick as of the time I'm writing this, so I'm sorry if that had any effect on this chapter.**

**Some info:**

**1) This story prompt may seem boring, but I think it's pretty interesting. One, Moon's personality could be different depending on that of the scavenger, her common interest with Winter could have them get along better, ect.**

**2) If, on the off-chance you may or may not have enjoyed my previous works on this site, I'm sorry but I doubt I will be continuing them. In fact, if you're reading this, they're deleted by now.  
**

**3) I can't actually say for sure what's going to happen in this story or how it'll unfold. I know Winter and Bandit will be important, but that's about it.**

**Please tell me in your review how I could improve, or what you'd like to eventually see from this story. Thank you, and I'll see you when, or if, I make another one of these things.**

**EDIT (March 5th, 2019): Wow, I'm honestly amazed on all the positive feedback, thank you all very much! I am sorry, due to unforeseen circumstances I will not be able to work on chapter 2 for at least the rest of this week. I will also be unable to respond to any reviews until I do. On the bright side, I'll be able to spend more time planning out that next chapter until I get the opportunity to finally write again. Thank you very much for your patience and support!**


	2. Four Years

The next morning was not a pleasant one for Cedar.

His eyes opened groggily, and he sleepily tried to get his bearings. He felt itchy, terribly itchy. His skin was plastered with dried sweat and mud, and he was covered in leaves and ferns. The rainforest air was clean, but humid and oppressive, and even from the shade of the hollow he found himself, he could still feel the heat beating down from the early summer sky.

The next thing he felt was the gentle rise and fall of a weight on his lap, and a soft breathing below him. He looked down and nearly jumped out his own skin, seeing a dragon sleeping on top of him. What was it doing here? Why hadn't it killed him yet? Why was it-

Last night's events came rushing back to him, all at once. Right. He came to her comfort after her mother left her, and she came to his comfort after his... his...

He let out a quiet, choked sob, as the tears began to rush down his face again. His family, his friends, his home, everyone he'd ever known.

Gone in an instant.

His crying wasn't quiet enough to go unnoticed, as the Nightwing's breaths began to change pace, and her eyes peacefully fluttered open as she lifted her head to look up at his tearful face. Her piercing green eyes stared deep into his. He tried to wipe his eyes and nose in a vain attempt to recompose himself. She didn't need to see him like this. How could she possibly understand-

She rose from her resting place in his lap and nuzzled her head into his chest, wrapping her wings around him, as though she were giving a hug.

This simple act shook Cedar from his half-asleep stupor like a splash of cold water. Stars above, since when could dragons read minds? The Nightwing gave a gentle purr from his chest, as he slowly moved a hand to stroke the back of her neck. He gradually moved both arms around her and wrapped her into a hug of his own, sobbing quietly into the crook of her neck.

Cedar's cries eventually came to a slow. He pulled away and wiped his face again, only smearing his tears with the dirt coating him. "Th… thank you," he choked out, a small smile on his face.

"Mmmrk," said the Nightwing, seemingly content. Stars, she was so pure.

Suddenly, the sound of flapping wings could be heard in the distance. They both perked up. Was the Nightwing's mother back for her newborn? Maybe she wasn't abandoned; maybe she wouldn't have to live alone after all. The thought brought a small smile to his face, and he could have sworn it brought one to hers, too.

Unfortunately, it occurred too late to him that maybe the giant mother dragon wouldn't be so partial to having her newborn so close to a human.

A loud thud resounded from outside the hollow, and the protective ferns were pushed aside to reveal the face of the mother he saw last night. For only the briefest of moments, she seemed immensely relieved to see her newborn safe where she left her, but that was before her daughter, with a happy chirp, retracted her wings to show her mother the new friend she made.

* * *

Secretkeeper was not a happy dragon.

She flung the filthy scavenger into the dirt in the middle of the clearing, and pinned him down with her talons before he could scramble up. She leaned down and growled menacingly at him.

"And who do you think _you_ are, going near _my daughter_?!"

The scavenger pressed his back further into the terrain, his breaths short and fast, desperate to get away from her. Fat chance. She wouldn't let him go until he got the message to _stay away_ embedded in his skull. He'd never forget the day he dared to threaten her Moonwatcher's life.

She could hear the sound of talons stumbling across the jungle floor, and wings flapping, wild and distressed behind her. "Mommy! Nah… N-No! Stuh-Stop!" With an unexpected burst of speed, Moonwatcher staggered her way over to where she had the scavenger pinned, and began to paw at her talons angrily. Even if she couldn't hope to actually hurt her, she was still very clearly upset about the whole situation. "No! Stop!" she cried up to her mother's face.

What? She could maybe understand her approaching a scavenger; she was young, didn't know the dangers present. But why was she going out of her way to protect this… _vermin_? Moonwatcher's agitation only seemed to grow at this thought, as did the volume of her cries. The scavenger, meanwhile, seemed as stupefied as Secretkeeper felt.

She couldn't possibly see this scavenger as a _friend_, could she?

"Yuh… Yeh, yes! Furrrr, friend! Friend!"

What the-

In her moment of shock, she accidentally lifted her talons from the scavenger, who took the opportunity to crawl out and, still on the ground, scramble away from her. Before she could grab him again, Moon rushed over to him and wrapped her wings around the pitiful creature protectively. "Friend! friend!" she insisted.

Secretkeeper had never used the word 'friend' in front of Moon before, and there was no way she could have learned it from that… _scavenger_ there. She had only just thought of the word. The Nightwings, even if they wouldn't admit it, haven't had a psychic in centuries. It just wasn't possible that she was a-

"Psuh… sci-kick? Psy-kikuh? Mommy?"

...Oh, stars.

She took a few fearful steps backward, much to the confusion of both Moon and the scavenger. She had mentally prepared herself to raise a dragonet hidden in the rainforest, she knew she wouldn't be able to be with her daughter all the time, she was ready for all that. But this…

She began to breathe faster, her heart starting to pound in her ears. She couldn't raise the first mind-reader since Darkstalker. She didn't know what to do, she wasn't ready for this, she had no way of controlling her powers or helping her use them, or-

Moon let go of the scavenger and ran to her, still stumbling into the dirt a few times, the innocent child, and wrapped her talons and wings around her mother in comfort. "Stuh… Stop." she stated simply. Secretkeeper's panicked mind seemed to relax a bit just at this simple action.

She looked up to see the scavenger, now on his feet, slowly shuffling, step by step, in her direction. Pressured by her gaze, he took his time to reach her. When he stood before her, he slowly rose an arm to trace his fingers across her hide, before wrapping his small arms around her like Moon was, as though trying to provide comfort the same way.

Her hardened glare softened immediately as their embraces soothed her mind even further. She sat down in a sphinx posture and gently wrapped her arms around both of them. Yes, she wouldn't worry. It would be difficult, but she promised herself she would love her child no matter what. So what if she had an arcane power or two? She would always be her Moonwatcher.

Secretkeeper turned her attention to the strange scavenger hugging her. He was an odd one, for sure. The fur on the top of his head was covered in leaves, and he smelled awful. The cloth he had covering his body was torn and dirty. He looked utterly pathetic.

But Moon had to have taken a liking to this… leafy scavenger for a reason. Leaf. Leaf was a funny name.

She thought all scavengers were terrified of dragons? This one seemed more scared of Secretkeeper as a person rather than a beast. She supposed that was meant to be flattering. Hm. He seemed brave enough, certainly braver than most of what she'd heard of scavengers. Maybe… having him stay around Moon wouldn't be so bad after all?

Moon certainly agreed, giving a small chirp of approval. That was it, then.

* * *

**A week later…**

A splash resonated through the rainforest as Cedar dove into the lake he had found two days ago while looking for fruit with the Nightwing that he'd began to call Moon. He'd finally managed to find a way to deal with the horribly unhygienic mud and sweat that once caked his entire skin, and it was a blessing that was not overlooked.

The lake was actually a part of a larger river, with a small-ish waterfall cascading into the pool near the edge. Cedar was standing under it, washing his hair and body to clean it of dirt, sweat, and most recently, blood. The rainforest wasn't exactly made of pillows and silk, and sometimes he had to suffer to make sure he and Moon would be alright for another day or two.

He'd recently found a certain flower in the rainforest that he remembered hearing about in school. When the pedals were crushed up and left out to dry in the sun for a day, the resulting powder worked as a fantastic solution that worked similarly to soap. He rubbed a handful of it across his body and let the water wash it away, leaving nothing but clean skin behind.

The water was surprisingly warm, as it flowed down over Cedar's sore shoulders. He closed his eyes and let the sound of rushing water fill his mind. The pounding water was heavy on his neck, yet it almost somehow made him feel lighter as he began to relax…

He heard the sound of something moving into the water, and opened his eyes to see Moon there, gazing at him with her ever-vibrant green eyes. She had a single arm in the water, as though checking how warm it was. She seemed satisfied with it, and promptly launched the rest of her body into the lake, creating a massive splash.

Cedar laughed as he shielded his eyes from the explosion of water. There was another splash as Moon resurfaced, and turned her head to face him again, a silly smile plastered on her face. She ran over to him, causing more splashes all the way. Cedar turned his body to protect himself from the water, and made a small, feeble splash in retaliation.

When she got close enough, she closed her eyes and moved her head under the waterfall, letting the water roll down her neck and over her ebony scales. She unfurled her wings and shook them, shooting droplets of water everywhere, causing Cedar to cover his eyes yet again.

When everything has settled, Moon opened her eyes again, greener than the forest that surrounded them, and looked over at Cedar. Sitting down, she was about his height, but she's been growing quickly. On the night of her hatching, she was only about up to his shoulders, after all. Dragons apparently matured a lot quicker than most thought.

He looked down into his hand to see he still had some of the soap powder. He quickly rinsed it under the waterfall, cupping his hands to ensure he didn't lose any, and began to wash Moon's scales with the soap. She seemed to enjoy the sensation, a soft purr coming from her throat.

He took his time to make sure she was thoroughly cleaned, and Moon seemed to appreciate every second. After he'd covered as much as he could with the soap, he made sure to rinse all of it off beneath the waterfall, careful not to get anything in her eyes.

When she was all clean, she turned to admire her scales, glistening under the sun. With yet another small splash, she wrapped her arms around Cedar and brought him into her embrace.

Cedar didn't hesitate to hug back.

* * *

**A month later…**

With the Mother's visits becoming fewer and further between, Cedar has had to find more ways to make ends meet.

He'd long since shed his tattered burlap clothing, and instead donned some kind of a mix between the massive jungle leaves and the feathers of fallen birds. It came with a pair of shorts, but instead of a shirt, he merely wore long bands across his chest, crafted from some of the smaller vines he'd found. The materials he found in the jungle were always very sturdy, but it was still a miracle that his sub-par tailoring could hold together at all.

He didn't need to wear much, anyway; summer was in full swing, and each day only grew hotter than the last. Moon was in the lake, trying to beat the heat. Cedar would have joined her, but someone needed to fetch dinner for them.

He reached to his waist to grab a makeshift tool he'd made in his spare time, a long, durable vine with a wooden hook at the end. They've eaten much of the low-hanging fruits in the area, and with Moon still learning how to fly, he had to find a way to reach the harder targets.

He spotted a fair bunch of bananas up above, high in a tree. Swinging his new grapple in an arc, he tossed the hook high into the air, before it got caught on a nearby branch. Taking a deep breath, Cedar tightened his grip on the vine as he began to scale the massive tree. It was certainly scary, but he'd done this before; he had faith in his trusty grapple.

He eventually managed to reach the bananas, and after securing himself onto a branch, tugged at the bunch until it came loose. He tightened the hook securely in the branches, placed the bunch under his arm and began his descent.

Halfway down, however, he heard a crack. His blood ran cold as his head snapped up, and he could spy the hook of his grapple beginning to come loose. His mind raced, but he had to force himself to tear his eyes away and move faster downwards. Unfortunately, his rush only seemed to destabilize the hook even further, as it snapped in two, and Cedar began to plummet.

He screamed as he fell, his mind going blank. He couldn't die now, Moon needed him, he was doing so well, what would happen with him gone, what-

Suddenly, something massive and dark slammed into his side, and tumbled with him to the ground. He and the mass rolled when they hit the dirt, and when the slowed he found himself underneath it. His eyes were slammed shut, his fists still clenched around the vine for dear life, his breaths short and panicked.

"Rrraak!" came an angry, familiar voice from above him. Cedar's eyes opened, and he saw none other than Moon standing above him, her expression making her displeasure clear.

"M-Moon, I..." Cedar stammered, his earlier terror still shaking through him. "I… I-I was getting food, and the hook just snapped, and – It's worked fine before, I don't know why – I'll be sure to stop it from happening again -"

Moon let out another snort and hit the ground in frustration. "Mmrrk!"

Cedar stared at her for a long moment, before sighing. "I… ah, damn, you're right. I shouldn't have risked my life like that. I'm sorry."

Even if she couldn't understand his language, she still seemed to get the message as her glare softened and she leaned closer to embrace him. Over a month of this, and he was still as mystified as ever by it. The same effect didn't seem to be with Mother; in fact, he was pretty sure at this point she could read minds.

Read minds. Hm. How _did_ she know he was in danger?

As a sniffle came from her, he set the growing thought aside for later. He remembered to wrap her into his own embrace for comfort, whispering sweet nothings into her ear as she did so. Out of some bizarre curiosity, he made sure to think joyful, cozy thoughts as he did. She almost seemed to calm down faster.

He rolled out from under her as they both dried the last of their tears. Stars, they were both so emotional. He walked a brief distance to find the bunch of bananas on the ground, still intact. He picked them up, tore one off the bunch, and handed it to Moon.

"Want one?"

She stared at the banana in his hands for a long moment, before she reached out and took it, wearing a bittersweet smile.

* * *

**A year later…**

This wasn't going to work.

It was late, the sky pitch-black aside from the explosion of stars and one full moon out. Moon and Cedar had retired to their usual resting place underneath the hollow tree hidden behind the ferns in the corner of the moon-lit section of the jungle. From the shade of his new home, Cedar looked out upon the clearing, and couldn't help but be reminded of his first time being here, witnessing Moon hatch under two moons. If only he'd known then how much that night would change his life.

Speaking of which, he was pretty sure he almost broke a bone or two when Moon tried to lay down in his lap like normal.

Moon had grown over the last year, a lot. Whereas she had once been only about his height while sitting down, she was now about twice as large as she was when she hatched. Evidently, the speed at which a dragon matured was nothing to scoff at.

Cedar, however, didn't grow nearly as fast, and couldn't keep up. As a result, it had grown increasingly harder for Moon to sleep on his lap as she always had.

"Unf! Ow, ow, Moon, get up, ow," Cedar groaned as Moon lifted herself up. If he tried to sleep with Moon's full weight on him, he certainly wouldn't live to see the morning. "I, uh… I-I'm not sure this is gonna work anymore. I mean… you've grown a ton, and I… haven't."

Moon, somehow, seemed to understand. Her brow furrowed as she brainstormed for a solution to their dilemma. For a moment, there was no sound but the sounds of crickets and bugs. Cedar could've sworn he heard a panther roar in the distance.

Then, her eyes snapped open, as she apparently thought of something. She moved to a pile of leaves and laid down in it, Her wing closest to Cedar was extended, as she beckoned him to come closer. With a few hesitant steps, Cedar slowly approached her, and when he was close enough, Moon pulled him in with her wing, knocking him down next to her.

"Ow! Moon, what're you-" His words were cut off when he felt Moon's arms embrace him protectively. She held him close, like some kind of human teddy bear. She curled inwards, surrounding him. Her head nuzzled him from over his shoulder with a cozy purr, and her wings wrapped over both of them like some kind of massive scale-coated blanket.

Any words Cedar was about to say died in his throat, but despite that he immediately felt a sensation of warmth and comfort overtake him. But it was a sensation he took with hesitation. This wasn't how it was supposed to be! He was always the one to protect her, wasn't he?

A grunt and a scolding nudge from Moon told him otherwise. By the starry skies, she could actually read minds. Not that he wasn't aware of it; he'd had plenty of proof over the last year. But it was still so _bizarre_ when she actually did it.

...Gah, maybe she was right. He couldn't keep this up forever, even if he wanted to. She was getting older, and bigger; she needed to be able to take care of herself. Except at that thought, Moon seemed to pull him just a little closer, and somehow, realization struck him. They were in this together; they both had to rely on each other.

Like brother and sister.

With that thought, Cedar peacefully faded into sleep within Moon's arms.

* * *

**Four years since Moon's hatching…**

Cedar's legs ached, and his lungs burnt, but he didn't stop running, weaving between trees and watching not to trip on vines and roots. His grappling hook, reinforced and nearly indestructible now, caught on a tree branch as Cedar pulled himself in the air and launched forward through the air.

He was floating.

He was flying.

He was a dragon soaring through the clouds.

He reached his arm forward and caught onto a natural vine, which he swung from to another vine, and another and another. The wind rushed past his face. He felt lighter than air. His arms were on fire, but he kept going.

He spotted a gap in the treeline in the distance, and pushed himself even harder to pick of the pace. He kicked off of a tree to grab another vine, before throwing his grapple while in mid-air to swing on another branch.

He was burning.

He was boiling.

He was a bonfire, the scorching heat flooding each of his veins.

But full of life and light.

He grabbed on two vines with both hands and, with a tremendous tug, made the final swing, crashing through branches into the clearing above a massive lake. The crystal-blue water twinkled back at him from below under the scorching sun, as he freely fell through the air down into the lake, his grapple trailing behind him.

A roar sounded off somewhere nearby, and moments before he crashed into the water, Moon flew up from behind him and caught him on her back.

He grabbed onto her shoulders with all his might, fighting against the sensation of dropping in his stomach being multiplied tenfold by the sudden stop. He managed to pull himself up and wrap his arms around her neck entirely. Moon turned her head back to smile at him, her emerald eyes filled with adrenaline and mirth.

She made a wide arc in the air above the clearing, Cedar needing to secure his grip even further to stop from falling. She turned back towards the massive sapphire lake below. Cedar took a deep breath as Moon folded her wings in and dive-bombed into the water with a colossal splash.

Cedar finally released his vice grip from Moon and let himself drift under the cool water. Stars, he needed this. A smile grew across his features as his rapid heartbeat began to relax a little, and he surrounded himself in the muffled noise of the water. Soon, however, his lungs caught up with him, feeling like they were about to explode. He rose his arms and began is ascension.

When he broke the surface, he took a deep, much-needed breath, and opened his eyes to the glare of the sun. When he leveled his vision, he could see Moon nearby, twirling around in ecstasy as she swam in a circle around the lake like an ebony dolphin.

She perked her head out of the water when she saw him, and stared back with that silly smile of hers. With a brief jump in the air, she dove towards him, before splashing out of the water and wrapping her arms around him. Cedar laughed as he hugged back, and for a moment, it almost sounded like she was laughing, too.

* * *

Later, Moon and Leaf were relaxing in the sun at the side of the lake, catching their breath. Moon's scales absorbed the early summer heat, and she purred in pleasure from the warmth. Leaf laid back against her side, his eyes closed, half-asleep, his thoughts calm and serene.

She smiled at him. She couldn't read any specific thoughts from Leaf's mind, but she could still sense emotions and ideas from him. She knew that he saw her as a sister, and it was a title she couldn't be prouder of. He'd been there for her since she hatched; she couldn't help but think of Leaf as a brother, too.

Leaf. She knew that wasn't his real name, and she doubted she'd ever know what it was. Some days, she couldn't stop her mind from wandering, though. What did he think her name was?

Moon's ears twitched as she heard wingbeats from nearby. She turned her head to see who it could have been, but her vision was limited with the tall, dense, trees. Suddenly, the bright sun was blotted out by the dark silhouette of a familiar dragon, who then arced downward to meet them.

"Mother!" Moon cried, her face lit up. Leaf looked up at her in confusion and, when he realized that the warmth of the sun had suddenly vanished, looked up and smiled in recognition the same as she did.

"Moon! I've been looking for you, what are you doing out here?" Secretkeeper asked. She was trying to scold them, but for some reason, she couldn't keep joy out of her voice today. She was always happy when she got the chance to see her daughter(and foster son), but something about it was different this time.

"Me and Leaf were having fun, don't worry about it! How've things been?" Moon asked. Even if her mother's stories from the volcano were always grim, she still always asked how things were, in hope that one day things may take a turn for the better.

If only she knew what today had in store for her.

"Moon," Secretkeeper said breathily. She had a lot to say, and everything was about to explode from her. "It's a long story, but we got a new queen, and I think she'd like to meet you."

* * *

**This took way longer than I thought it would. IRL circumstances haven't made it easy for me to finish this, but it's here, and I don't think it's that bad, all things considered.**

**Regardless of time, I've been blown away with positive feedback so far with this story! I know ten favorites may not seem like a lot, but that's monumental compared to my older works. I hope this new chapter can do the previous one justice!  
**

**1\. If you think this chapter has too much hugging, I'm sorry, but this story honestly isn't for you.**

**2\. This is _not_ a romance fic. Or at least, it's not a scavenger/dragon romance fic. Because that'd be really weird. I had to clarify that to some of my, ahem, "proofreaders". (You know who you are.) All things considered, it's a miracle that there's no scavenger/dragon fics on this archive, but I do NOT intend on making the first.**

**3\. I initially wanted to spend more time in the rainforest before moving on to the events of JMA, but with how long this chapter took me to finish, I've decided that it would be better to up the production value and hurry things along just a little bit. The next chapter will be Moon and Cedar settling into the new Nightwing village, and after that, it's off to JMA for them.**

**4\. To make things more clear, Cedar is the scavenger's real name, but Moon and the other dragons don't know that, so they'll always call him Leaf.**

**Again, I'm extremely sorry about the delay with this one. I can't promise that I'll be able to get the next chapter out any faster, but I'll see what I can do. **  
****Thank you all so much for reading, and for your continued support!****


	3. Punks

No. No. No. Bad. No. Stop. No.

Moon didn't like this. She didn't like this at all.

_Secretkeeper had a dragonet, and she's been living out here this whole time?_

_I knew it! She always looked like a traitor!_

_What are those strange scales by her eyes?_

_She's never known what it's like to struggle on that volcano._

_She'll never be one of us._

Moon gripped her head in her talons, fighting off the pounding migraine in vain. All these voices in her head, all screaming over each other, all at once, never ending, it was a living nightmare.

"Moon, are you alright?" her mother asked, her voice soft and nervous. _I've never seen her like this before. It must be because of all these new people somehow, right? I understand her being a little scared, but she almost looks like she's in pain somehow._

"I… am… in pain..." Moon spoke through gritted teeth, desperate for silence. Cedar, currently riding on the top of her neck, reached down and stroked her cheek. A flood of concern from him washed through her at the contact. She didn't like the feeling, but she could feel it faintly muffle the voices all around her, so she embraced it.

"Moonwatcher..." Secretkeeper spoke, lost on what to do. _She must have a headache from the thoughts of all these new dragons. Is that right, is that how it works? I should get her away from all this._ "Here, let's go look at our new house, that might help take things off your mind."

"That'd… be great..." Moon grunted out in agony. Her visible pain only led to more questioning thoughts from the Nightwings around her, further magnifying her headache.

_Why's she acting so weird?_

_Must've been lonely out in the rainforest with no other Nightwings._

_Is that a… scavenger on her head?_

Moon slammed her eyes shut. The ancient Nightwing mind readers had to have some way of blocking out all this noise, right? Secretkeeper wrapped a wing around her and Cedar, as though it would somehow silence the voices, and led her away to their new home.

It was a very small hut, and on the edge of the village, but it was the best home the three could ever ask for. It was built of twigs, leaves, and hardened mud; not terribly unlike their old home, come to think of it. In each corner lay two beds, built mostly of whatever materials the Rainwings found "soft", including various leaves and flowers, and kept together by some cloth and vines. It was like sleeping on a cloud for Moon and Cedar, having slept in leaves and on the dirt for the last four years.

Between the beds was a small table with a lantern, illuminating the hut with a warm, golden aura. Two windows faced parallel to each other next to each of the beds, letting in fresh air and keeping the single room cool.

It was like a dream.

_The whole thing seems awfully symmetrical… Though, wasn't it designed by that one Rainwing who loved symmetry in everything? It seems weird, but oddly… cozy, in a way,_ thought Secretkeeper. Moon couldn't agree more. Yes it was tiny, yes it was made of dirt and leaves, but she could finally sleep in an actual home with her entire family, so it still meant the world to Moon.

A shame she couldn't appreciate it fully, what with her pulsating headache.

She suddenly heard wingbeats and the sound of talons outside the hut. She turned to see Secretkeeper open the(unprofessionally carved) door to see the face of a Nightwing she'd never seen before.

"Oh, Deathbringer! What brings you here?" her mother asked politely. _What's the bodyguard of Queen Glory herself doing here? Probably just to help me get situated, I'm sure,_ she mused.

"Secretkeeper. I'm just here to help you and Moonwatcher get settled in, don't worry. Not going to arrest anyone," he joked. His thoughts moved surprisingly quickly for such a laid-back dragon, though they mostly seemed to be centered on the image of a certain Rainwing, probably Queen Glory.

"By the way, where is she, anyway? Been dying to meet her myself," said Deathbringer. Secretkeeper stepped away from the doorway to reveal Moonwatcher lying on her new bed behind her. She stared up at him shyly.

Deathbringer chuckled at her expression. "Hey, Moon, no need to be shy. Can I call you Moon?" She nodded. "Alright, nice." _Is this nice enough? Glory already told me to make her feel welcome, but I'm pretty sure a sneeze could scare her half to death, poor girl,_ he thought. "I hope you feel welcome here, Moon, and come to me if any Nightwings give you a hard time, mkay?" _Exactly what Glory would want me to say. Hopefully._

"Alright," spoke Moon, barely over a whisper. Even if they were on the outskirts of the village, the cacophony of voices still rang through her head. Leaf, who had been resting under her wing, noticed her discomfort and reached up to pet her head comfortingly, and-

"SCAVENGER!" roared Deathbringer suddenly, making everyone in the room jump. Leaf's balance was broken by the sudden roar, as he tripped and fell down Moon's neck onto the bed, in clear view of Deathbringer. He had his wings partially unfurled, his talons clenched, his entire body visibly tense.

He glared down at Leaf with what some kind of fear, which Moon could suddenly feel rolling off him in waves. Leaf only stared back; he, too, recognized that it was Deathbringer who was afraid of him. He tried to make himself look as small and non-threatening as possible, hoping to help the situation.

The whole room was dead silent for a long moment, before Moon growled again in agony, the sudden strong emotions reinvigorating her migraine. Deathbringer seemed to realize what he just did, as his wings partially pulled back, and his gazed jumped about the room nervously, trying to look at anything except the scavenger.

A long string of mental curses later, Deathbringer managed to vaguely compose himself enough to make a noise. "U-uh, I-I mean, that… that's, a, uh, v-very nice, ah, scav-er, scavenger there, Moon, ah..."

Secretkeeper began to laugh, surprising everyone in the room. "Not a huge fan of scavengers, are you?"

"Please keep it away from me."

She chuckled again, extending her wing to touch with his. "Aw, don't worry, Leaf won't hurt anyone, right?" she said, looking at the scavenger in question. Despite the language barrier, he managed to get the message and nodded, a warm smile on his face. Deathbringer still seemed uncertain.

"It's not about him hurting me, it's just..." he trailed off. Memories flashed through his mind, dark memories. A vision of a body on the ground, unmoving, made Moon's scales go cold. Leaf wouldn't do anything to Deathbringer, nor could he, but maybe his fear was somehow… justified?

"It's nothing," lied Deathbringer through a confident, yet clearly fake smile. He turned to look at Moon. "Her Majesty actually wanted to meet you herself. She told me to bring you to her once you were settled in." Secretkeeper and Moon's eyes both widened. _Her Majesty wants to meet my daughter? Look at her, already moving up in the world!_

Moon's eyes bulged. Her Majesty? Queen Glory? Glory wanted to see her, of all people? Why? Did she do something wrong already? No, she couldn't have, could she? Maybe it was about Leaf, was he not allowed to stay in the village? Her mind raced, and she shrunk back, more than apathetic to meet the Queen.

Secretkeeper noticed this, and wrapped her wing around her and Leaf. She cooed, "Aww, don't worry, dear. I met Glory before we moved, she's a great queen! It's thanks to her we have a home here at all," she smiled. _Even if she can be a bit stern to her subjects at times…_

Deathbringer nodded. "She's right. I'm sure she'll love you! C'mon; if you're all set, we can go right now." Right now? No. No no no no no-

Before she knew it, they were flying, on their way to meet the Queen. Deathbringer lead the way, and Secretkeeper was lagging behind, leaving Moon in the middle of the chain, with Leaf on her neck, holding onto her horns for support.

As she wove between trees and vines, Leaf began to relax further on the back of her head, a sense of euphoria rushing through him and, by extension, Moon. He always did love flying with her. A feeling of warmth came through her. Feeling invigorated, she flew a little faster after Deathbringer.

They soon reached Glory's palace. It was hardly a palace at all, more of a large pavilion, but it seemed regal enough. Deathbringer landed first, with Moon and Secretkeeper following shortly after. He approached a lavish throne in the center of the pavilion, where a lone Rainwing was currently lounging, and bowed before her.

"Your Majesty, I have brought Secretkeeper and her daughter, Moonwatcher."

Glory rolled her eyes at his antics. "Thank you, Deathbringer. You are dismissed."

"But I mustn't leave my Queen so vulnerable and unprotected by hersel-"

"I am _just fine_, thank you. I still have the Rainwing guard at all times. But if you're going to stay, could you at _least_ cut the formalities? We're trying to make our guests feel _welcome_ and _at home_, not _suffocated by your fancy words._" she chided.

"Oh, _fine,_" Deathbringer sighed, moving out of his bow to stand upright.

Glory turned her attention to Secretkeeper. "Ignore him; it's nice to see you again, Secretkeeper. You've been settling in alright?" "I have," she smiled, "and Moon's been loving it here as well. A few headaches from all the noise, but she's been doing alright." _Don't let her know the real reason,_ she told Moon mentally.

Glory looked to Moon now. "Glad to hear you've been doing well, Moon. And don't worry about the headaches; Deathbringer alone gives me more than plenty."

Deathbringer snorted, mock pain showing on his features. "Okay, that was uncalled for. You're just going to throw me under the roots like that? Your bodyguard? Best assassin? Boy-"

"_You see what I mean?_" Glory sighed, a bit louder than normal. "But don't let Deathbringer - or any of the other Nightwings, for that matter - bother you. They've constantly been on edge since they came to the Rainforest. It's been months now; you think they'd have gotten better about all -"

Leaf climbed a bit higher on Moon's head to get a better look at Glory, which didn't go unnoticed. "A scavenger! Is… is that yours, Moon?"

Moon jumped. She reached up to her head and gently picked up Leaf and lifted him to the ground, without a struggle from him. "Y-yes. This is Leaf. He's… been with me since I hatched." Leaf seemed to recognize that he was in the presence of royalty, and bent down on one knee, his head low.

Glory smiled. "Aw, he doesn't need to bow to me." Moon nudged Leaf back up, who stood tall, still trying to impress the Queen. "You might want to keep him away from Deathbringer, though. He's deathly afraid of the things." _If I'd known she had a scavenger, I wouldn't have sent Deathbringer. Oh, great, now I feel bad!_

Deathbringer just turned his head, not looking at Leaf. He didn't respond to Glory's comment. Leaf noticed this, though, and his posture relaxed a little, as if worried for him.

"Uhm, d-don't worry about him. He's… he's not going to hurt anyone. I promise." Moon spoke softly. Deathbringer risked a sideways glance at Leaf, who tried to give a warm smile and a wave back. Deathbringer only closed his eyes and sighed.

"I'm sure he's not going to hurt anybody. I'm just… really weirded out by scavengers. That's all." _Not to mention, they remind me of…_ His thoughts grew cold and dark, too dark for Moon to see through. He had to shake his head to clear his mind. "I'll have to inform the Nightwings not to eat him. That'd be bad." Moon shuddered at the thought.

"Actually, why don't you go do that now? There's a few more things I'd like to say to Moon before she leaves," spoke up Glory, cutting through the tension on the pavilion. "Will do," shrugged Deathbringer, eager to put more distance between himself and Leaf as he took off and flew down to the Nightwing village below.

Glory turned her attention back to Moon after he had left. "Moon, your mother and I talked before this, and we figured you might not be so comfortable with all the new dragons you'd be staying with." It was evident; she was so upbeat back in the distant reaches of the rainforest, only her and Leaf around for miles. Now, she shied away from every dragon around her. "And we think," continued Glory, "that we may have a solution for you."

"There's a new school opening at Jade Mountain, to the west of here," Secretkeeper explained. "Dragons from tribes across the continent will be attending. It's meant to help settle tensions between the tribes and form new relationships after the War."

"And we figured," said Glory, "that it might be good for you to attend."

* * *

"B-but I _can't_ go!" pleaded Moon. Maybe she could handle school if her mother was there to help her, but when she was just going to be dropped on a mountain with nobody she recognized? There wasn't a chance she could cope. And the noise of their heads wouldn't help her, either.

Moon, Secretkeeper, and Leaf were all back at the hut. Leaf was relaxing on his and Moon's bed, and Secretkeeper on hers across the room. Moon, however, in her stubbornness, stood in the middle of the room, trying in vain to argue her way out of what was to come.

"Moon..." Secretkeeper sighed for the umpteenth time that day. "It's the best way. I know it's a bit much..." A _bit_ much?! "...but it'll help you figure out how to be social, you'll make new friends, maybe figure out more about your, ah, 'abilities', and who knows? Maybe you'll come home with a cute boyfriend~!"

What. Mom. No.

"We'll be leaving in two days for Jade Mountain. If it makes you feel better, you could probably convince the school's Headmaster to let you bring Leaf with you?" Well… Moon hated to admit it, but if Leaf was there, it'd definitely be a lot more bearable being there. But at the same time, would her classmates be so welcoming to Leaf? Moon averted her mother's gaze and looked at the dirt floor, a conflicted crease in her brow.

Secretkeeper rose from her bed and wrapped a wing around Moon to encouragingly. "Hey, don't worry about it! It may be a bit rough at first, but I'm sure by the end of it, you'll have made lots of great memories and friends! You may even want to return for a second semester!" The thought of attending the academy twice made Moon cringe. But at the same time…

If she really did make friends, maybe it wouldn't be so bad?

Suddenly, an idea sparked in Secretkeeper's head, one that Moon wasn't feeling so good about. "Say, maybe you can get some practice in right now! Why don't you go out and try to make some friends with the other Nightwings?" _Or if they're really as grumpy as Queen Glory said, maybe you could settle for making friends with the Rainwings instead…_ She blinked. "You heard that? That, ah, just kind of came out, didn't it? Well, I guess if it works out better for you, you could do that instead."

Apparently, not even the Nightwings liked the Nightwings.

It wasn't long before Moon, with Leaf on her back again, found herself outside, essentially kicked out of the house. She stood still as a statue just outside the door, agitated voices of the Nightwing's thoughts surrounding her. She was petrified, hostility filled the air all throughout the village. It had no sense or direction attached to it; it was more than hatred, it was a chaotic hatred, traveling throughout the rainforest, upwards, downwards, inwards.

Then they saw her. All the fiery hot rage, flooding the forest, floating through the air, was all suddenly pointed at her, pressed against her neck and temples. It was overwhelming; Moon gritted her teeth against the all-consuming headache and fought off tears forming at the insides of her eyes.

_Oh, look who decided to come out from under her mother's wing!_

_Pathetic, she can hardly stand outside her home and not look like she's about to combust._

_She's still got that weird-looking scavenger. Deathbringer said not to eat it, right?_

_What a sad excuse for a Nightwing._

Leaf, pressing his tiny paws against the top of her head, climbed up to see her pained expression. Immediately, Moon felt his worry and sorrow fill her head, his proximity drowning out the red-hot fury the Nightwings felt towards her. A glint of a smile almost appeared on her features; was it wrong to feel better from his pain, knowing the reason for his pain was her pain? She figured it'd be better for her mind to say that she appreciated his concern.

She took a few hesitant steps forward. Stars, there were so many eyes on her. She tried to make herself look small as she continued through the village. Half of her was trying to look for one or more Nightwings that didn't look like they'd immediately yell at her on sight, and the other half was trying to remember the way back to her house should things go sour.

A group of younger Nightwings by a river caught her attention. Hostility rolled off of them in waves, but something had taken hold of her mind, and she couldn't stop her legs from, albeit slowly, coming closer. Her actions were not preceded by reason, but rather were followed by excuses; even if they did hate her, maybe she could convince them otherwise? Maybe Leaf might be able to appeal to them? Maybe her mother would be confident in her social skills by the end of this encounter, and she wouldn't have to be sent off to school for so long?

One of their group noticed her. "Oh, hey, been wondering when you'd finally come outside! Where's your mommy, I thought she followed you everywhere?" he jeered. The other Nightwings giggled at his words, while Moon only flinched and looked down. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea?

No. She couldn't go back to her mother now, not when she'd gotten this far already.

"H-hi, I'm… My name is M-Moon," she barely stammered out.

Another Nightwing stood up and walked to her. Oh, no. "Just Moon? Your mother's smart enough to hide you away for years, but can't come up with a competent Nightwing name? Maybe you were fated to not be one of us!" The laughs of the others grew louder, while Moon's eyes watered. Dark thoughts filled their heads that she tried to fight off, but they only grew in volume with their laughter.

Suddenly, something welled up inside her, some kind of uncharacteristic anger. It was no match for the raw hatred of the other Nightwings, but it was equally undeniable. She whipped her head up to face them, trying to blink out tears from her eyes. "I-it's M-Moon_watcher_! A-and… a-and d-don't talk about my m-mother like that! At least she w-was smart en-enough to save me from the vol-volcano!" she stammered out.

Before she even realized what she had just done, the hot rage began to practically rush from them, suffocating her. "_WHAT_ did you just say!?" the Nightwing roared. The others, scowls on their faces, began to circle Moon. Leaf slowly shrunk down and glared at them, as though thinking he could protect Moon from them.

She couldn't back up, she couldn't fly away, she was stuck here. Her heart racing, Moon looked around. All the adult Nightwings either ignored them, or looked on with dismissal or, worst of all, amusement. A soft, terrified whimper escaped her throat. Why were they allowing this? Why did she have to be the victim?

A Nightwing behind her sneered. "That's a nice scavenger there, _Moonwatcher,_" he said, dragging out her name mockingly. "You look like you've taken really good care of it. In fact, I'd bet it's the tastiest scavenger on the continent!"

Instinct kicked in; she reached up to grab Leaf as fast as she could, but it wasn't fast enough. One of the Nightwings snatched Leaf in his talons, while hers only grasped around empty air. She turned to him, her eyes wide with fear. Leaf slammed his fists on the dragon's talons, hoping to loosen his grip, but his efforts were in vain. Another Nightwing poked him roughly, and Moon could feel the sharp pain jump through him, while the Nightwings only felt sick amusement.

She wanted to vomit then and there; this was exactly what she'd been afraid of.

"H-hey! G-give him back!" she stammered, not even trying to hide her tears now. Stars, she couldn't imagine living without Leaf. The thought of the Nightwing bending his head down and trapping him in his jaws… She felt sick to her stomach.

"So what?" jeered the Nightwing. "What's so important about this one? There's plenty of scavengers in the world, you can get another just like 'em!"

"P-please!" she begged, her voice rising in volume and pitch. "L-Leaf's not just any old scavenger! I-He's been with me s-since I hatched! H-he's like a b-brother to me, p-please don't hurt him!"

At that exact moment, every Nightwing around her erupted into a roaring, deafening laughter. Moon suddenly felt small, very very small. "This thing? A puny _scavenger_ is your _brother_? Aw, that's rich!" "Being alone in the rainforest for so long must've driven her mad!" "Do you wuv your bwuther, Moonwatcher?"

Moon's talons dug into the earth, tears streaming out her eyes. Leaf fought harder than ever, slamming his full weight into the Nightwing's talons, desperate for freedom. She couldn't take this, she wanted it to be over, please, why couldn't it just be over-

"HEY! Leave her alone and pick on someone your own size!" _Or even better, don't pick on anyone at all!_ A voice, young and feminine, sounded through the village. Moon looked up in the direction of the noise. She couldn't see much through her tearful eyes, but she saw a mass of red scales swoop down and slam into the Nightwing holding Leaf hostage.

Several things happened at once. The Nightwing's grip came loose. Leaf, with all his strength, pulled himself out of his talons. He pulled his grapple from his waist and swung it into the air, hooking it around one of Moon's horns, pulling himself up atop her head before anyone could grab him again. He swung the hook in a circle above his head, ready to toss it at whoever made the next move. The Nightwings were furious, but most took a step back. The mystery Rainwing moved closer to Moon, shielding her.

The one she tackled roared at her. "Get lost, Kinkajou, this doesn't involve you!" _Though, I wouldn't mind making a bloody mess of you, too!_ He thought. The Rainwing, Kinkajou, shouted back, "It does when someone's getting hurt! Why can't you all just GET ALONG like NORMAL PEOPLE?!" _I mean, I don't think I could get along with the Nightwings after the volcano, but WOW this is too far!_ From atop Moon's head, Leaf looked down at Kinkajou, an expression of… was that some kind of appreciation? Pride, even?… on his face.

He looked enraged, and got into a fighting stance. Moon's heart skipped a beat; just when he was about to lunge, though, a new, deeper voice reverberated around them. "I believe I _explicitly mentioned_ for you _not_ to eat Moon's scavenger," scolded Deathbringer, flying down behind Moon. The Nightwing's faces of anger and violence were instantly replaced with fear, as the larger dragon raised his wings high, in a show of dominance. "And yet, here we are. What do you have to say for yourself?"

The apparent ringleader took a few steps back. "D-Deathbringer! What're you doing here?" "I'm more worried about what you're doing here to poor Moon." His glare burned holes into him, as panic rose in his chest. "W-we were just… playing! G-getting to know each other!" The others nodded in agreement. Deathbringer only settled his talons on Moon's shoulder protectively.

"And what kind of _playing_ does this?" The Nightwing punks tried to glare, but Deathbringer only glared harder, withering their anger away to replace with fear. "I'm going to report this incident to Queen Glory. In the meantime, why don't you all run off and think about what you've done?"

With one last murderous look at Moon and Leaf, the Nightwings all either flew or ran off. Deathbringer stood perfectly still, watching each and every one of them until they were out of sight. Once they were, he relaxed and bent down to look Moon in the eye, his gaze having softened. "Are you alright, Moon? I only saw the end, but that looked rough."

"NO KIDDING!" screamed Kinkajou, making the two of them jump. "They didn't even try to get to know her or make friends or SOMETHING! Even if they didn't want to talk, that's all they had to say, and ALL OF THIS COULD'VE BEEN AVOIDED." _Besides, what kind of unbearable grump WOULDN'T want to make a new friend?! I mean, maybe me, cause, y'know, Nightwing trauma, but all of that was just uncalled for!_ This Rainwing was… very outgoing.

Leaf looked up at Deathbringer, who retracted his talons a bit when he saw him. His mind seemed conflicted. Dark thoughts began to plague him, but he shook his head. _No. I can't let my fears get the better of me. Moon needs my help, not my cowardice._ He rested his talons back on her shoulder. Moon's eyes began to water again, but not from pain this time. She jumped up and wrapped her arms around Deathbringer, crying into her shoulder. Leaf barely managed to stay on from the sudden movement, but hugged her neck for comfort too.

_A group hug! I can't miss!_ Kinkajou's mind sounded off, before she wrapped her wings around all three of them. They stayed there for a good few minutes, in the middle of the Nightwing plaza, crying into each other's shoulders in a great big group hug.

Finally, Moon managed to break free. "T… thank you. Both of you." she smiled. Kinkajou lit up in pinks and yellows. "Anytime! I mean, those Nightwings can be big JERKS sometimes, so you just have to learn to cope, y'know? Oh, I don't think we ever introduced! You probably heard, but my name's Kinkajou, what's yours?" Moon giggled. "M...Moonwatcher. But please, c-call me Moon."

Deathbringer looked up in the direction of Moon's hut. "Your mother's probably worried sick, Moon. We should bring you home. And, Moon..." he leaned down, as though trying to prevent anyone else from hearing. "After that, if you don't want to go to Jade Mountain, we'd all understand. It wouldn't hurt to wait a year or two until you're ready."

"Jade Mountain? You're going too?!" asked Kinkajou, enthusiasm in her voice. Moon looked down. "I mean, I-I might be..." Kinkajou hugged Moon. "You should really go! I heard it's going to be AWESOME there! So many new tribes and people! And if you get into any more fights, I can always be there to help you!"

Moon giggled again; Kinkajou's optimism knew no bounds, it seemed. "W-well, when you put it that way..." Deathbringer looked surprised. "Really? You still want to go after that? Some of those Nightwings will probably be attending the school too, you know."

Moon looked up into his eyes and, with more confidence than she'd ever thought she could muster, spoke, "Who knows? It might be worth the risk."

Deathbringer blinked. "Well. I guess that's settled, then. I'll let Queen Glory know of your decision, and you should tell your mother, too. If you'll excuse me, I think I need to _reinstate_ my previous message _a bit more firmly,_" he spoke through gritted teeth, and flew off, leaving Moon, Kinkajou, and Leaf alone.

"Hey, Moon, I have a question!" Moon looked down at Kinkajou, who was about half a head shorter than her. "Earlier, you said you thought of your scavenger as a brother. Is that true?"

Was it? Moon shook her head. Of course it was; he'd always been there for her, and she'd always been there for him. Wasn't that was a sibling was? "Yes", Moon spoke honestly. "He's been with me since I hatched. I can't imagine a life without him." She looked away. "Is… is that wrong? Is it weird?"

Kinkajou looked thoughtful. "Hmm… weird, probably, yeah." Moon cringed a little internally. "But wrong? I don't see why it would be. If he's really your brother, he's your brother."

Moon felt joy rise in her chest at Kinkajou's words. "Th-thank you for understanding, Kinkajou."

"Anytime! That's what friends are for, right?" the smaller Rainwing smiled. Wait… "Friends? You consider me a friend when we haven't known each other for an hour?"

Kinkajou's response was instant. "Of course! I mean… if you wanna be. Do you wanna be friends?" Moon stared at her for a minute, before she broke into a huge grin. "I…O-of course I want to be friends!" With that, they embraced, with Leaf on top of their heads, trying to embrace both of them at once.

"Say, we have a full day tomorrow until we take off for Jade Mountain. Want to hang out then?"

"I'd… I'd like that, Kinkajou."

* * *

**Oh my god finally.**

**I know I said I'd try to get this one out faster, but that didn't go so well, did it? If the ending to this seems rushed, that's because I'm going on a trip in a few days, when I'll hardly be able to write at all, and I wanted to push this out before then. Because of that, I'm sorry if this seems rushed or half-assed by any means.**

**Regardless of my rush at the end, I'm still extremely sorry about the wait.  
**

**Some info:**

**1) I said before this would not be a _scavenger/dragon_ romance fic, but there will still be dragon/dragon and scavenger/scavenger romance eventually. Particularly, this is planned to be a Winterwatcher story. Yes, I know it's a dead ship, and yes, I think the epilogue to Book 10 was awful. Either way, this will be a Winterwatcher story, so if you aren't down for that, this story isn't for you.  
**

_**HOWEVER**_

**2) I'm not cruel. I'm not going to have Moon and Winter leave Qibli in the dust, he's still going to get someone to love. But, I'm not sure who. I've discussed the matter with my "proofreaders", and we came up with some ideas, some of them a bit more... extravagant than others. I'll have a poll running on my profile(Don't vote in reviews, please), and details on each option are at the bottom of these notes.**

**3) "Throw me under the roots" is what one of my proofreaders claimed the dragon equivalent of "Throw me under the bus" would be.**

**4) Did this chapter seem... weird, in any way? I feel like there's especially something funky about the last few bits, but I can't put my finger on it. Hopefully, whatever it is becomes less of a problem in later chapters.**

**With that out of the way, thank you for reading and for your continued support, and I'll see you in the next chapter when it comes out.**

* * *

**QIBLI SHIPS:**

**1) Sunny (Qibunny?): Seems like something out of a crackfic, but when you think about it, it's not that weird at all. They're around the same age, give or take, and the only real problem with it is that Qibli would have to tell Thorn that he's dating her daughter. And besides, Clay's a teacher and Peril's (eventually) a student, and they're together, so why can't Sunny and Qibli do the same?**

**2) Ostritch (Osbli?): While she may not have the largest role in the series(aside from in Book 10), she and Qibli have still both shown signs of affection between them. Maybe it's just a good friendship, but who knows? Besides, since she does become more important in Book 10, if she and Qibli had a more defined relationship it'd give him more motivation for that part of the book.**

**3) Lynx (Qynx?): "Oh my god, Wrongful's gone mad! There he is, officer, quick, shoot him, shoot him before he can get away!" I asked some of my proofreaders for more people I could ship Qibli with, but one of them thought I was asking about Winter, and suggested Lynx. It was just a miscommunication, but the idea stuck in my head. This one is my personal favorite, just because of how crazy it is(I can still make it work realistically, it's just really funky), but I'm still not certain, which is why there's a vote.**


	4. Cobalt

"I don't want you to leave me here."

The wind rushed over her scales in a constant, powerful flow, and Moon had to squint her eyes to see through the harsh blow. The blinding desert sun glowered from behind a thin veil of clouds above them, but the windchill from occasional bursts of stronger wind on the mountaintop kept her shivering under her mother's wing. Poor Leaf wasn't faring much better himself, clinging to the back of Moon's neck like a hairless sloth; his light, survivalist outfit, while appropriate for the sweltering jungle heat, was decidedly less appropriate for the top of a windy mountain.

"I really, really don't want to stay here."

Her bubbling enthusiasm from the other day had died the moment she had approached Jade Mountain. There were too many people, too many voices, too many variables, too many ways for everything to come crashing down on top of her.

Her mother let out a deep sigh and turned to look at Moon. "I know, but you have to. And it'll be good for you. Besides, you have Leaf and Kinkajou here, right?" She was right. Kinkajou, despite having met her only two days prior, was already the closest of friends with Moon, and Leaf would never leave Moon even if she wanted him to(which she never did).

"I like being wherever you are." Even to her, the argument seemed weak. "And I don't mind the other Nightwings that much." That wasn't even an argument, just a bold-faced lie in every sense.

"Most of them are awful and you know it," stated Secretkeeper, her tone making it clear that there was no argument to be had. Moon knew it; it had taken almost three hours to convince her mother to let her outside with Kinkajou again after she found out what had happened. Kinkajou had to go find Deathbringer, take him to Moon's hut and have him convince Secretkeeper everything would be alright before Moon could even take a step out the door.

Secretkeeper's expression brightened. "Here you'll be with much nicer dragons. Like Sunny and Starflight. Remember you met them and liked them?" Moon remembered. Yesterday, some of the Nightwings and Rainwings, including herself and Kinkajou, were brought to meet two of the teachers they'd be learning under at the academy. Moon worried that she'd have to stay with a strict, crotchety old dragon as her teacher for the duration of her stay, but was more than pleasantly surprised by Sunny and Starflight's understanding and upbeat aura.

She didn't hear a shred of an evil thought from them. It was refreshing, honestly.

Being on top of a windy mountain surrounded by dragons you've never seen before and knowing you were about to be abandoned with them was not refreshing. Even if at least two of them were nice.

"I want to be with you." She'd waited four years for this opportunity – to finally get a chance to be with her mother all the time, to spend every minute with her, only to get it all taken away in a heartbeat.

Secretkeeper nudged her lovingly. "I'll visit," she promised. "You'll see me all the time. And you'll make friends here, I'm sure you will." _Well, I hope you will, my weird little diamond,_ her thoughts betrayed her.

Moon furrowed her brow and looked at her talons. "I'm not a weird little diamond," she insisted.

"You need to stop doing that, remember?" her mother spoke to her softly, making sure nobody else would overhear them. "If you only hear it in your head, don't respond. Everybody thinks Nightwings don't have powers anymore – they won't know what to do with you if they find out." _And how will you make friends that way, if you keep guessing their thoughts and making them uncomfortable?_ "Or they might not believe you, and hate you for lying. So don't let them find out, all right?"

"I know," Moon answered, still keeping her head low. "Stay secret. Stay hidden. Stay safe."

* * *

Cedar was breathless.

Until four years ago, he'd only seen dragons from a distance, watching specks fly through the clouds miles above him from the comfort of his home. Then he met Moon, then he met more Rainwings and Nightwings, and now he had pretty much seen every last dragon on the continent. They came in all shapes in sizes, colors he'd never even seen before. It was beautiful.

Or it would've been if he wasn't shivering half to death on top of this damn mountain.

His outfit – if you could call it that, it didn't even include a shirt – was for the rainforest. Designed for the rainforest. Made of the rainforest. The rainforest he'd lived in for the past four years. He understood that he and Moon had just moved out of the wilderness into a more civilized area(never in his life had he expected to find himself in a village of dragons, much less living in it), but what was all this with the mountain? Why were they here? Why were any of these dragons here?

He noticed that the age difference between some of these dragons was sharp. While a lot of them seemed to be only around Moon's age or younger, he noticed a handful of larger, adult dragons around the mountaintop as well. One in particular caught his eye; a large, navy blue Seawing adorned in countless pearls at least half his height. A queen, maybe? But what was going on here that was so important for a queen to show up? It clearly wasn't a Seawing event, judging from the numerous tribes present.

Some kind of multi-tribe peace conference? But where were the other queens, then?

Suddenly and firmly, Mother snorted something that made Moon's muscles seize up. She turned to her mother and said something back, but Mother didn't seem to listen. She moved her wing that was covering both of us back to her(Stars above, it was way too windy up here!), and took off back in the direction of the rainforest.

Despite the howling of the wind, there was a certain deafening silence. Moon stared off where her mother had gone, unmoving. A soft whimper began to rise, but died in her throat. Her words failed her, and her eyes seemed to water.

Hey, don't cry, don't cry! It'll be alright! Cedar acted quickly, giving a wide hug around the side of her head with one arm while tenderly stroking her neck with the other. He whispered sweet nothings into her ear. She wouldn't get the language, but the message was clear enough for the mind reader. She blinked away the tears and gave a warm, sideways smile, a soft purr vibrating in her throat.

Time had passed since then, mostly uneventful time. Even if there were dragons everywhere, he could still recognize a boring school-like setup. Moon had picked up some scrolls from the entrance of the mountain, dodged a handful of relatively friendly-looking dragons, and had eventually ducked into another cave where she picked up more scrolls. Cedar looked down at the parchment in her hands, his eyes filled with wonder.

Dragons had a written language? Who knew? It looked weird, but at the same time, the writing was almost oddly familiar somehow. As his eyes remained glued to the page, he started to make out shapes in the otherwise alien calligraphy. What looked like it could be an abstract "W" here and there, and maybe that one was an "S"? Maybe, given time, he could learn this language. He figured if he was going to spend the rest of his life around dragons, at least some level of communication would do wonders for him and everyone around him.

Just when he began to make out what almost looked like the word "Dragon", there was a rush at the doorway of the cave he and Moon were in. Both heads snapped up to see an irritated-looking Skywing storm into the room and flop down on a rock bed without a sound. Moon shifted away from the strange dragon, before hastily stuffing her nose back into the scroll. Cedar shifted his weight on Moon's neck to hide himself from the Skywing.

Only a few seconds after the Skywing had stomped in, another dragon came through the door, this time in a whirlwind of color, almost tripping over where Moon had sat. They both looked up at the newcomer, who Cedar instantly recognized as -

"RrhkAhhou!" Moon exclaimed, putting her scroll away as she jumped up. The Rainwing, who Cedar had nicknamed Sunshine, jumped up and embraced Moon, her scales flashing in yellows and golds. Cedar grew a smile at the scene; it was nice to have a familiar face here. He crawled up and hugged Sunshine as well.

The two of them cooed at each other for a while, seemingly in deep conversation. It seemed a little one-sided, with Sunshine doing most of the talking, but for the first time that day Cedar could see Moon smiling. He still found himself casting a few nervous glances at the Skywing in the corner, who soon looked to be the topic of discussion between Moon and Sunshine.

The Skywing, however, was having none of it, exploding from her bed, snarling at the two as she stormed back out the cave door.

Snarl was a good name for her.

The two remaining dragons grew into an awkward silence, but Sunshine quickly brightened up again and grabbed Moon's shoulder, practically dragging her out the door and through the caves to who-knew-where.

* * *

Cedar could not even begin to guess where they were, but then again, he couldn't even begin to comprehend anything happening here, either.

Just a few minutes ago, they were resting in a serene and beautiful library. Cedar had just learned that dragons had a written language, now they had entire libraries! Warm Sunlight was drifting in from a leafy ceiling, with the normally deafening wind reduced to a distant gust, mere white noise. The whole room was quiet, calming. Good for the soul. He could stay there all day and just read every last scroll with Moon and come out of it a better person.

That was the library.

This was not the library.

This was a nightmare.

Dragons of all kinds were soaring and racing around the room at lightning speed, their roars pounding his ears while the 'bawks' and 'moos' of various livestock in the room ran for their lives, adding a more sharp pain in his eardrums. In the middle of it all, a powerful Mudwing stood atop a slightly risen platform, letting out the most ear-splitting and guttural war cry Cedar had ever heard. The chickens just bawked back and the cows mooed in defiance.

The fruit in the corner did nothing, though. He liked the fruit.

The dragon's roars suddenly seemed to intensify a bit more than normal, and both Moon and Cedar looked over to where he heard something unusual, something he hadn't heard in a long time.

A human voice.

"FUCK! FUCK FUCK FUCK NO NO NO NO NO, HELP! AAAAAHH! HELP, PLEASE, ANYONE! FUCK!"

A vulgar, yet oddly feminine human voice.

Acting almost on instinct, Cedar swung his leg over Moon's shoulder and dropped to the ground, much to her surprise. Before she could catch him, he darted off in the direction of the voice, carefully weaving through legs and tails before spotting them.

A girl, around his age, donning heavy wool coats and animal furs, surrounded on all sides by dragons wanting to bite her head off.

"FUCK OFF!"

He ran into the scene and, unwinding his grapple, took a swing at one Seawing that moved a bit too close. He backed himself up close to the mystery girl, and began to swing his grapple threateningly in the air in a massive circle.

She turned to him. "Who the fuck are you?"

"Not now."

"Can you just give me your damn-"

Suddenly, with a scream, she was swept up into the arms of a familiar Nightwing, who held her close to her chest. Cedar smiled, and with a great heave, swung his grapple up to Moon's horns to pull himself up to her head again, before putting his grapple back on his waist.

"P-p-please d-don't eat m-me – oh, stars, help, I – I-I w-wouldn't even t-taste t-that good, j-just let m-me go..."

Cedar frowned. He grabbed the sides of Moon's neck for support before leaning down to get a look at the girl in Moon's arms. Stretching his arm as far as he could, he barely managed to trace his fingers across the top of her hair, which was enough to get her attention. She looked up, saw him atop the dragon, and gasped, her eyes bulging.

"H-how are you-"

"Don't worry," he said calmly. The words sounded sore in his mouth; he hadn't talked to another human in four years. The only reason he remembered how to talk at all was from long, one-sided conversations he'd had with Moon. "Moon's not going to hurt you. You'll be alright, I promise."

Her brow furrowed. "M-Moon? What the _hell_ are you-"

A snarl came from before them, and the room grew silent, causing all three to look up. An Icewing stood there, worryingly close, staring down Moon with the most violent glare he'd ever seen on a dragon. He snarled again, threateningly. Moon shied back, clutching the girl to her chest even closer while averting the Icewing's gaze.

"Umf! Oh, great, Prickhead's here."

Cedar couldn't stand by and watch this unfold. He pulled himself up on top of Moon's head and glared the Icewing right back. Surprisingly, his gaze immediately shifted from one of malice to one of shock and interest, and his snarls ceased. He just stood there; staring back at Cedar with what almost appeared to be child-like curiosity.

The girl looked at the now-docile Icewing, the back at Cedar. "Wh… Who the fuck _are_ you?!"

* * *

"You have ten seconds to give me back my scavenger," the viscous Icewing snarled in her face, "before I slice… your… face…"

His words died in his throat, and with it, his glare. He blinked, as though he wasn't sure what he was seeing was there. The Icewing's gaze was no longer focused on her, but above her. With a rush of panic, Moon gently pushed Leaf back behind her head, still holding onto the other scavenger with one talon. She looked back into the Icewing's eyes, trying her best to muster up a glare.

"D-don't even think about hurting him!" she spoke, trying her best to look scary. It clearly wasn't working, because the Icewing just squinted his eyes and tilted his head in confusion.

"Hurt him? Your scavenger, or mine? ...If that… _is_ actually your scavenger up there." _Is it?_ He thought. _I never figured a Nightwing would be interested in scavengers too. Then again, she stole Bandit, too, so maybe it's not hers after all. That kind of thievery and deception is fitting for a Nightwing. I wonder who she stole it from_?

Moon shook her head. "Th-the one on my head is mine. Is..." she looked down at the one she was holding, from which she could feel the fear rolling off of. However, the scavenger also seemed a bit confused as well, for whatever reason. "...Is this one… yours?"

_Show no weakness, Winter._ "It is. Give it back to me now." he said, his scowl returning, but there was a hint of hesitation behind it. _Was that too rude? No, she's a Nightwing! Nightwings killed him, and I'll never forgive them for it!_

Moon wrapped her wings around the scavenger protectively. She felt Leaf climb back up to look at the Icewing, now named Winter, but paid it no mind. "H-how do I know he's yours? How do I know you aren't just going to eat him once I hand him over?" she asked, not trusting Winter.

He snorted at her words. "How do I know the one on your head is yours, either? How do I know you didn't just steal it from someone else to eat?" He congratulated himself internally. _There you go, Winter, that's how you put the pressure on them. Would Mother be proud of me for that?_

She whipped her head up to glare at him, her earlier fear forgotten. "Leaf's been with me since I hatched! He's like a brother to me, not just a pet or snack!" she nearly yelled. She flinched back at her own words. She'd gone and done it now, yelling at an Icewing who could freeze her head off just by breathing on her. Her muscles tensed(much to the dismay of the scavenger in her arms) as she awaited Winter's verbal lashing.

But she got nothing. Winter only blinked, and tilted his head even further, his anger quickly being overshadowed by not confusion, but outright bewilderment. "Wh – You – He's… brother?-"

"Hey, calm down, alright?" Both turned to see a Sandwing, sporting a gold earring, some freckles and a zigzagging scar pushing his way through the crowd that had formed around them. _So much for not drawing attention,_ thought Moon as he made his way over. "Hi, I'm Qibli, and I'm clawmates with this wannabe-serial-face-mauler, Winter." He nudged Winter on the shoulder as he spoke, who only growled at the comment. "What's your name?"

Moon didn't move for a minute. This Sandwing, Qibli, acted normal and laid-back, but sure didn't think like one. As he spoke, he scanned the cave, assessing the most threatening-looking dragons, how to defuse the situation between her and Winter, the chickens that ran past their legs, possible escape routes, the way the crowd around them stared, which ones wore the most jewelry, and she even caught him studying Leaf's outfit and the grapple that rested at his waist. The overwhelming torrent of thoughts disoriented her, and it took her more than a few seconds to realize they were still waiting for an answer from her.

She stuttered, "M-my name's Moon."

"Moon what?" Winter snapped at her, making her jump.

Moon what, what? What kind of question was that?

"Moon _what_?" the Icewing shouted again. "Come on, Nightwing. We know your names are all lies. So what's yours? Moondestroyer? Mooneater? Mooncrusher?"

"Her name is Moonwatcher," Kinkajou said, coming out from the corner of Moon's eye and twining their tails together.

"Moonwatcher," Winter mumbled, visibly deflating as he said it.

"Listen," Qibli interrupted. "This is my fault. I wanted a closer look, so I opened the cage, and that thing was halfway down the tunnel before we could even sneeze. But I promise you the scavenger does belong to Winter, so we're asking you nicely: Please don't eat it."

"Get your teeth anywhere near Bandit and you will lose them."

"You are not at all clear on the concept of 'asking nicely', are you?"

"Bandit?" Moon asked. "Is that his name?" she loosened her grip on the scavenger, just a little, so she could look at him.

"Indeed," Qibli confirmed. "Though I'm not sure why you keep calling it a 'he'."

Moon looked up at Qibli. "Well, Leaf's a he, so why wouldn't this one be?" she asked, genuinely not understanding the statement.

Qibli shook his head. "That's not what I meant; he's obviously biologically male, judging from the short hair, the question was why you call it a 'he' instead of an 'it' like everyone else."

"Because scavengers are just like us," she spoke without hesitation. "I've lived with Leaf since I hatched, and I can say for sure that he's no different from any other dragon. They're not 'it's, they can feel just like anyone else, and absolutely shouldn't be eaten."

Winter got tired of tilting his head one way and tilted it the other way, his bewilderment having evolved further into raw astonishment. "That's… exactly how I feel about it."

"Great," Qibli exclaimed, perking up a little. "Weird, but great. We're all on the same roll of the scroll, then."

* * *

As Moon's grip on the human lessened, she managed to look up again. Doing her best to ignore the face of the dragon staring down at her(though a part of her had to admit that it looked almost kind of cute), she glared at the mystery boy atop its head.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing? Who are you?" she shouted up at him, her confusion only fueling his rage. The boy only sighed at looked down at her.

"My name is Cedar, and _not now._" he stated simply, turning his eyes away from her and back to the dragons. She gritted her teeth and yelled at him again.

"My name is Cobalt, and _YES NOW_!" she practically screamed at him, hysteria laced in her voice. When she finished speaking, her stomach growled, causing her to blush and glare away. Of course _that_ was what caught Cedar's attention.

"...When was the last time you ate?" he asked casually, stifling a laugh at her embarrassment.

"...Four days..." she mumbled. Cedar's smirk vanished immediately.

"Oh. O-oh, shit..." he spoke softly. He looked around, thinking. Something clicked in his mind as he began to slide down Moon's neck, and climbed down her leg. Before she could ask what stupid plan he had in mind, he began to whistle and wave his arms as soon as he hit the ground, getting the attention of all the dragons.

* * *

"Uhh… What's he doing?" asked Winter. He crouched down low to get a better look at Leaf, who suddenly began flailing his arms and squeaking loudly at Moon in the middle of their conversation. Moon bent down to look at Leaf.

"What is it?" she asked softly, knowing that he wouldn't be able to understand. He stopped flailing and began rubbing his stomach and pointing into his mouth, before pointing to the scavenger in Moon's arms.

"Oh! I think he's hungry!" guessed Kinkajou, gazing at Leaf with wonder and a smile.

"He's probably saying that Bandit's hungry. See, he's saying _he's_ hungry, then he goes and points at Bandit, so he's probably communicating with us for him."

"But Bandit couldn't be hungry," said Winter. "I offered him some meat this morning, and he didn't eat either of them. In fact, he hasn't eaten anything since Queen Glacier caught him four days ago. I gather that scavengers eat fairly infrequently, but he still drinks water when I give it to him."

"Have you tried fruit instead of meat? Leaf always eats it," said Moon. Winter looked at her funny.

"Have I what?"

Sunny rushed into the room. "Hello," she said joyfully, "What's all the excitement? Fatespeaker told me you brought a pet. Is that it?" she crooned her neck down to look at the scavenger in Moon's talons. "I assume it is, since I've already met Leaf. Aw, you think they're getting to know each other?"

Winter snorted. "Bandit is mine, though Moonwatcher here doesn't seem to realize that." he glared at her, though Moon noticed it looked softer than it was before. She looked away from his eyes, and instead looked back down to Leaf, who was still rubbing his stomach and pointing to Bandit.

"He's still hungry," she blurted out. She really needed to stop doing that, but she kept going anyway. "He… if he hasn't eaten in four days, that can't be healthy. Some fruit would be good for him."

"Or meat, as long as it's cooked," added Sunny. "I knew someone once who had a scavenger as a pet, and he always cooked meat for her. He tried to give her raw meat a few times before, and she always refused."

Winter's brow furrowed as he looked down at Bandit, his expression troubled. _Is that true? Do scavengers only eat cooked meat and fruit? __Have I been doing this wrong the whole time? _He shook his head. _No, not wrong. Learning. Few dragons have scavengers as pets, so information on how to take care of them would be scarce. Right?_

"Here," said Kinkajou, walking over with a talonful of blueberries. "Maybe he'd like these?"

"Fruit," Winter wrinkled his snout. "Disgusting."

Kinkajou took a blueberry from her talon and playfully poked Bandit, still being cradled in Moon's arms, in the nose with it. "Mmm, blueberry! Eat it," she said, placing it in the scavenger's hands.

Bandit was stunned, from what Moon could tell. He looked around at them all, wary and confused, before striking Leaf with a bewildered glare, squeaking a few angry words at him. He wordlessly shrugged and gestured to the fruit in her hands. He looked down at the blueberry, about the size of his fists, and took a bite out of it.

"See? Moon was right. He's hungry," laughed Kinkajou, giving Bandit another blueberry after he finished his first.

Winter sighed and, in a forced tone of gratitude, said, "Alright, I admit, you were right, he was hungry, I'm a terrible caretaker, can I _please_ have my scavenger back before I have to freeze someone to death?"

"C'mon, Winter, you were doing so well there up until the end!" joked Qibli, earning him a glare from the irritated Icewing. Moon looked at Bandit, heaved a heavy sigh, and slowly, carefully returned him to Winter's expecting talons. The scavenger, suddenly frantic again, lunged for Leaf, squeaking as he did, but Winter's grip on her was firm.

Leaf walked up to Winter's talons and placed a gentle hand on Bandit's shoulder, mumbling something to her. They shared a very brief conversation before Leaf let go and took a step back. Bandit struggled to break free, but failed, and eventually fell limp in Winter's talons, surrendering.

"What happened? What'd he say?" asked Winter, curious.

"I… don't know," answered Moon honestly as she helped lift Leaf back up onto her back. He nestled himself into the crook of her neck, before quickly nodding his head to the side. Somehow, Moon managed to catch the message, and looked to Winter and Qibli. "I have to go. I think Leaf forgot something in our cave," she said, less honestly.

"Wait," said Winter, "Why does your scavenger-"

But she had already fled, lost in the crowd.

* * *

It was late. Dark, cold, scary, but despite it all, absolutely _not_ cold. Cobalt's large attire, covered in bundles of wool and furs and built to survive the arctic conditions of the Icewing territory, at least provided that comfort for her.

But it didn't help her much to cope outside of that. Wool hoods would do little to stop a dragon's fire or ice breath, three layers of pants wouldn't save her from their sharp teeth.

And polar bear skins didn't stop her from thinking about Cedar.

That useless, dragon-loving, smug-faced, half-naked son of a bitch. She was captured by the Icewings almost a week ago, and had been on constant surveillance by Frosty the Edgelord over there, asleep on a rock bed nearby. She hadn't had a moment of even partial freedom since her(admittedly shameful) kidnapping.

And then this kid shows up, riding on one of the damn thing's backs like he owned it.

How? And more importantly, why?! Maybe Icewings were just assholes? Maybe he'd blackmailed the dragon somehow? No, that's impossible, how do you blackmail a dragon. Her thoughts ran in circles, and her irritation only grew.

To think he laughed at her. Her, Cobalt, one of the best hunters in her village, taken as a prisoner of war and left with inedible excuses for food for _four damn days_. And what did that prick do? He laughed. Like the prick he was. Prick.

Laying down on the floor of her cage in the dark, surrounded by a few poor-quality animal furs, she turned on her side, grumbling. She just couldn't figure it out. That Nightwing, pretty teardrop scales or no, still let him boss her around and did nothing to stop him. Why?

Why didn't she just kill him like she's probably killed countless other humans just like him and her?

And then, get this, right? The moment he pulls his head out of his ass and finds out that's she's _dying_, he just casually strolls up to the other dragons and starts playing a humiliating game of charades with the beasts. You know. Like a _psychopath_.

And they actually listened! They actually fucking listened to the brat's hollering! A minute or two later, a random Rainwing came by and handed her a few blueberries. She was thankful – she guessed – but still. What the fuck. It was like he could control them!

And most of all, she couldn't stop thinking about the last thing he said to her.

"_Hey. You're gonna be alright, okay? Now he knows what to feed you. Just trust him, and you'll be fine. I promise."_

"_TRUST THE STARS-DAMNED ICEWING, YOU FREAK?!"_

"_Yeah. I did it with Moon, and look where I am now."_

And then he walked away. Done, over, period, end of conversation. Oh, no, her screaming at him to get the hell back here wasn't important at all. Nope! Forget her! All she has to do is _'trust'_ the mindless beast and she'll be diddly-fucking-dandy for the rest of her days.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a _swoosh_ noise, and the clang of metal against the metal of her cage.

Cobalt jumped, backing up into her cage as far as she could. She looked to her sides; both Prickface the Icewing and his Sandwing friend Clown were both fast asleep, and nowhere near her cage, at least not near enough to reach to. Her gaze snapped back forward as she heard another _swoosh,_ and something impacted with the ground outside her cage. In the darkness, everything only faintly visible from a small amount of overhead moonlight, she rubbed her eyes and did a double take.

Outside of her cage stood Cedar, having grappled his way up to her cage in the middle of the fucking night.

"What are you doing here?!" she seethed through clenched teeth, her fists clenching the cage bars. This stupid kid was going to wake up the two lethal dragons on either side of him!

"I wanted to talk to you," he whispered calmly, as if nothing was wrong with that.

Cobalt scoffed. "Oh, cool, glad you're taking the time to get to know your fellow prisonmate!"

Cedar's brow furrowed. "I'm-"

"Oh, right, you're not a prisoner here, are you? Because you have that Nightwing under your damn heel! Forced her and that Rainwing to get me food so you could warm up to me, huh?!"

"Moon is _not_ 'under my heel' and I didn't _force_ anyone to do anything," he spoke. "I was trying to _help_ you, just like I'm trying to help you now."

"Bullshit."

Cedar sighed, and sat himself down, his bare back pressed against the cold bars of the cage, making himself comfortable. "Why and how do you think I was riding on a dragon's back without her fighting me? Tell me honestly what you think."

Cobalt paused. "I..." She wasn't expecting this, and while she had a million possible answers to his question, she realized that, if she was being honest with herself, none of them made any sense. "I don't know."

"Take a guess."

Oh, you piece of shit.

With an irritated sigh, she took a shot at his game. "Because… you… she trusted you?"

Cedar smiled and looked back at her. "Yeah. She trusted me not to run away, she trusted me not to attack her or anyone else. She probably doesn't quite trust me not to do anything stupid," he laughed. What a stupid laugh. "You get what I'm saying, right?"

She suddenly noticed his weird, alien accent. Judging from his clothes, he clearly didn't come from the Icewing Territories. The jungle, maybe. Was that voice a jungle-person thing? Or was it a I-Haven't-Had-Any-Human-Contant-For-Years-And-Also-I-Talk-To-Dragons-person thing?

She shook her head to focus. "What do you mean, 'run away'? She's a dragon! Maybe _you_ have a reason to stay, what with her acting as your high-horse-" Cedar snorted with irritation. "-but in case you haven't noticed, Prickface over there locks me in a cage and feeds me raw meat!"

"Has he fed you anything since we last met?"

"Uh… Yes?"

"What was it?"

Cobalt looked away, deflating a little. "Berries..."

"See, he's learning. He might not know it, but he wants you to trust him."

Cobalt frowned. "How can I 'trust' a mindless dragon? I can't fathom how you did it with the Nightwing."

Cedar raised a clenched fist and slammed it against the bars of the cage, and Cobalt could swear on all that was holy that her heart stopped.

"Moon is _not_ mindless. She's easily one of the smartest people I've ever met, and I'm proud to call her my sister." He stopped to add, "and I'm pretty sure she's a psychic, too."

"What?"

"Nothing." he coughed. By some twisted miracle, neither of the dragons had woken up from the noise. "Dragons…" he stopped to think of the right words. "...Are more than we think they are. They can think and feel just like we can, so we can trust them just like we would any other human."

"Who's _we_? You can have fun with your d_ragon sister_ all you want, I'm going to-"

A growl came from their left, and both Cedar and Cobalt turned, their breaths hitching. There was the Icewing, staring down Cedar while growling.

Cobalt's breaths grew fast. She was going to watch this brat die in front of her eyes.

But like the psychopath he was, he held out a hand to her and whispered, "Hey, I know it looks bad, but just breathe. We'll be fine."

"I'll be fine, you mean. You're going to get ripped apart."

The Icewing was closer now. The Sandwing had woken up as well, but only observed the scene from his bed, looking uncertain of whether he should interfere.

The Icewing's growls grew to a crescendo, and his face stopped just a few paces away from Cedar. All he did in response was raise a single hand to his face, his breaths forced but consistent.

The Icewing bared his fangs and hissed. A freezing gust blew over them both, threatening to wrap around them and suffocate them to death in ice.

And Cedar, a natural diplomat, made the logical move.

He raised his hand and brought it down on the tip of the Icewing's snout in a loud _SMACK!_

Cobalt slammed her eyes shut, not wanting to witness the gory scene before her, not wanting to hear the screams of the admittedly-maybe-kind-of-alright brat.

Luckily for her, they never came.

A thoroughly confused snort, a startled honk, echoed through the cave. Cobalt slowly opened her eyes to see Prickface staring at Cedar again, but not in malice or anger. No, the poor thing was completely mortified.

The dragon stood still for a long minute, holding his baffled expression, the gears in his head trying to decipher what in fuck's name just happened. The Sandwing was probably laughing his ass off in the corner, but Cobalt paid no mind. Cedar stood his ground against the Icewing, a damn _Icewing_ that he just _slapped on the nose_, unwavering.

"Hey. That's rude. We're trying to talk here. Go back to bed," he said condescendingly. Slowly, inch by inch, the Icewing tiptoes its way back to his bed, from where he glared at the Sandwing(still clutching his sides and rolling around) from afar.

Cedar sighed and turned to Cobalt. "I should probably go now. Don't want to cause any more trouble." He hooked his grapple on her cage again, and began to make his descent before Cobalt called out to him.

"Wait!" she said He looked up at her expectantly. "Take this." She tugged one of her many polar-bear hoodies off and threw it at him from between the cage bars. He caught it and stared, as though not sure what to do. "Well, you'll freeze to death if you keep challenging Icewings in your underwear, take it."

He laughed, and slid the clothing over his head, tugging on the bottom. It was a bit big for him; it had to be, to fit over the other layers she wore, but he didn't mind the baggy feel at all. He smiled at her. "Thanks, Cobalt. Think about what I said, okay?"

With that, he slid down his grapple's rope and walked out of the cave, sporting a new polar-bear skin hoodie, as the Icewing continued to stare and the Sandwing sputtered out the last of his giggles.

* * *

"Y-you just – Ha – you got _smacked_ – pfft, hahaha, oh stars – b-buh, by a… _sc-scavenger!"_

"Shut up about it already, Qibli, I'm trying to sleep!"

* * *

**O****kay, damn.**

**I said I'd make the wait shorter, but, in my own defense, I did run off to vacation with my family the day after I posted the last chapter. I got home a week later and have since been doing all I can to get this chapter out**

**Hopefully the sudden use of more vulgar language wasn't too jarring. I did say this was rated T for language, I just haven't used it much before now.**

**You probably got really confused when I introduced Bandit/Cobalt as a girl. ****I did that for a number of reasons(yes, one of them was for shipping purposes, sue me), but one of the main ones was so I could show how little scavengers and dragons know about each other. Bandit has short hair, and dragons wouldn't know how to identify a female of another species(especially under all that clothing), so the judge her as male based on the hair.**

**Oh, and I did it so I could surprise them all later. How, well, you'll find out yourself~**

**As you probably noticed, I'm going to be skipping over a lot of details here that are present in the books. The purpose of this story is to show how a change as small as "give Moon a scavenger" can have a huge snowball effect on the whole story, especially so early on, not a complete rewrite of the entire series.**

**Oh, and the poll I posted last chapter I actually forgot to make available on my profile until the morning after I uploaded, so sorry if I confused anyone with that. It's still up, and will be up for a little while longer.**

**Thank you for reading, please leave a review and you'll see me again next chapter!**


	5. Wrong All Along

"Hello! Welcome to your first class. Nice work finding the right cave."

Moon found herself in a large opening in the mountain that was swarming with vines on all sides. Flowers were everywhere; long blue flowers, large purple flowers, small bunches of red and yellow flowers. On the back wall of the opening pressed against the mountain, a large waterfall fell into the cave like a massive tapestry of water, which flowed down into a small strait rushing through the cave that she followed Carnelian up here from. The sky was clear and azure, with clouds running scarce in the heat of the nearby desert. Moon or anyone else wasn't hot, though; the chilled, crystal mist from the waterfall was more than enough to keep her cool, with the high humidity putting a thin, wet sheen on her scales and the scales of every other dragon in the room.

Leaf seemed to love it, holding onto her neck with his legs as he leaned back and let the mist wash over his face, his arms raised high in the air. He donned a large cloth of polar-bear furs that Moon didn't remember him ever getting. She did remember seeing it on Bandit yesterday, so she assumed he went to see him without her and got the skins as a gift.

Was Leaf already making friends here? It was a heartwarming thought.

"Carnelian, Kinkajou, and Moon, right? And I see you've brought your scavenger, I think Sunny said it was Leaf, right? Oh, be impressed, I've been practicing so hard to memorize all of you. Thirty-five new names! Easy as cows for Starflight, but a whole lot trickier for me and Clay, believe me. I mean, it helps that I knew some of you before, of course."

On a small rock rising in front of the waterfall was Tsunami, proudly standing tall at her accomplishment. It certainly seemed impressive to Moon; she hadn't even gotten as far as to ever meet thirty-five dragons, much less learn their names.

Thirty-five people to meet. Thirty-five dragons she'd never seen before. Thirty-five chances to slip up and ruin everything. The thought made her shiver.

"Like ME!" Kinkajou trilled. _Tail-kisser,_ Carnelian grumbled in her head.

Talonsteps could be heard behind Moon and she turned around(carefully, to make sure Leaf didn't lose his balance) to see an unfamiliar Mudwing and Seawing enter the cave together.

"Turtle!" Tsunami exclaimed. "Hey, everyone, this is my brother. I mean, I have a million brothers, apparently, but I'm going to assume this one's the best, since he's here right now," she said, draping a wing across his shoulders and grinning toothily.

Turtle grinned back. "It's true, I am." He turned to the small brown Mudwing, sitting squat beside him, and said, "This is my clawmate, Umber."

"Oh! Clay's brother!" Kinkajou shouted in recognition.

"That's right," Umber said, smiling warmly at them both.

"Ooo, the Jade winglet is so cool! I wonder who we'll get for our Icewing and Sandwing. Does Sunny have any sisters?"

"Actually," Tsunami started, whipping her tail toward the cave entrance. Moon turned to look, hearing talonsteps, and her heart fell when she saw the two dragons entering. "after yesterday," she continued, "we decided to switch a couple of dragons around, since you guys seemed like a good match." She nodded at Qibli and Winter. "You've already met, you're all interested in scavengers – we think you'll fit well together."

Qibli and Winter both immediately recognized her. _It's her,_ they both thought. Moon saw Winter cupping his arms, and was surprised to see Bandit nestled in them. He was frightened, but not petrified like he was yesterday. Apparently, Leaf had helped him get better about dragons, somehow overnight.

Speaking of which, she was still upset at him sneaking off in the middle of the night to talk to Bandit. It was hard not to notice the polar bear skins he suddenly got when they woke up, but she didn't exactly have the language to scold him for running off. She could only give him a knowing glare in the morning.

"Look, see? You even both brought your scavengers. Proof."

Leaf leaned forward on her neck, and squeaked, waving a tiny paw at Bandit. Winter, oddly enough, seemed to freeze for a moment when he saw him, his eyes widening slightly. Qibli noticed this, and gave him a sly smirk.

"Still spooked of him?"

Winter's head snapped towards him. "Shut up, Qibli!" In his head, Moon caught a brief glint of a sharp pain in his snout, and an image of a hard glare from Leaf. What exactly had happened last night?

Leaf had clambered down from atop his seat on her head, and walked over to Winter. The Icewing grew visibly tense at his approach, and jumped away from him. Qibli had to stifle a laugh as he backpedaled away from Leaf, growling violently at him. Leaf stopped for a moment, before moving more slowly, his arms out and knees buckled slightly. Winter still inched away from him, but he eventually met the Icewing's cold scales, and gave a gentle tug at his arms. Winter squinted his eyes in suspicion at Leaf.

"Uh, Winter? I think he wants to talk with Bandit." Qibli spoke up, trying not to smile too widely.

"I know!" Winter shouted back. "I'm just… not sure if I can trust him not to run away." He didn't sound too sure of the excuse himself.

Moon sighed, and took a step toward him. "You can trust Leaf," she spoke softly. "I've trusted him since I hatched. He's not going to do anything bad, I promise."

Winter gave her a look, but it wasn't one of contempt, more a look of distrust as he contemplated her words. _She trust him? The scavenger?_ He thought. _Can I trust that? I mean, she clearly does, if she lets him ride on her back. __But all Nightwings are deceptive._ Moon cringed. _But if all Nightwings are deceptive, then they must be pretty paranoid about being deceived themselves. They wouldn't give out their trust so easily. If she can trust him, then maybe I can, too._

Moon by no means agreed with his line of thought, but smiled as he slowly, hesitantly opened his arms, and let Bandit out with Leaf.

* * *

As Cobalt slid out of the Icewing's talons(which she had lovingly named Prickface), she stumbled on the ground and took a second to regain her balance. It had been a while since she was this free; not in the arms of a dragon or within the bars of a cage. She rose her head up to meet Cedar's gaze, and drew a long breath.

"Cedar."

"Cobalt."

"Long time no see."

"Hardly," he smiled. "I just got these furs last night. Thanks for that, by the way."

"Speaking of last night," Cobalt breathed. "I never really got to register what happened until this morning, but YOU'RE FUCKING INSANE!" she screamed, her sharp change in tone making Cedar jump back a bit. Before he could respond, she suddenly rushed forward and embrace him into a rib-crushing hug.

"U-uH, CobALT-" Cedar tried to choke out, but her grip remained steadfast against his struggles.

"Dragon-fighting isn't rare where I come from, but people generally have a sword or a shield or armor or _fucking anything_ when they go to battle! I've seen people do some crazy things when I was still with my tribe, but stars, do you take the damn CAKE!" she shouted, roughly pushing him off with the last word. Cedar tripped and fell to the ground.

"I, uh, I, was, uh, just - "

"What if you MISSED, and like, your WHOLE ARM went up his NOSTRIL-"

"M-maybe we could talk about this a bit more calmly?!"

Cobalt took a breath, and exhaled slowly. She reached an arm down to help him up. "Ah, sorry about that. I got a little excited." Cedar took her hand as she pulled him to his feet. "But, to be fair, you _are_ fucking insane."

Cedar laughed. "Maybe I am."

* * *

Moon and Winter temporarily forgot their differences to observe Leaf and Bandit's interaction with scrutiny. They were calm, then Bandit got violent, then they were calm again?

"I've, uh… never seen Bandit act this way before." admitted Winter.

"Maybe it's got something to do with last night?" Qibli suggested, failing to hold back a laugh.

"I _SAID_, shut _UP_ about that!" shouted Winter, only causing Qibli to go into a greater fit of laughter. Moon turned to them, confused.

"Wh...what happened last night?" She was almost afraid to ask.

"It is NONE of your business!" Winter whipped around to yell at her, but his flustered expression ruined any attempt at frightening her. Qibli managed to compose himself enough to laugh out:

"H-he got smacked in the nose by your scavenger!"

Moon blinked. She had gathered that Leaf and ran off at night to meet Bandit, and had gotten a much more personal confrontation with Winter, but how did he manage to do that? Winter cringed and looked down, trying to hide his face. Moon sent a sharp glare at Cedar, who only shrugged in response. She'd have to figure out how to scold him later.

"Alright, moving on, because we can't talk about scavengers forever," Tsunami raised her voice, getting the attention of everyone. "How about we go around and introduce ourselves? I'm Tsunami, the Head of School, and pretty much the boss of everything here. And I'm running your first small group-discussion class, which was Glory's big idea, so I think we'll figure it out together. Any questions?"

"Yeah, I got one," Carnelian spoke up. "Are we stuck with this group?"

"I wouldn't say you're _stuck_ with this group," Tsunami shrugged, "but you're stuck with this group."

"What If we would _prefer_ to be in a group with other Icewings? Such as my sister?" Winter questioned.

"That's not how the winglets are set up," said Tsunami. "But you'll be in some bigger group classes with her and have plenty of time to make other friends as well."

"When are we eating?" Umber asked jokingly. "Just kidding. Pretending to be Clay."

Tsunami laughed. "Actually, I brought food," she said, cutting aside some vines to reveal a large stone bowl filled with a variety of fresh fish, which she moved to the middle of the floor. "Help yourselves." Turtle enthusiastically reached for a fish, while Kinkajou gagged and stepped back.

Moon stepped forward to grab a fish as well, but Winter walked in her way, and she jumped back. He looked at her, curious. _She's frightened of me,_ he thought. _Mother would be proud. I guess I did threaten to slice off her face._

Then, quietly, _Am _I _proud of that?_

* * *

Cedar and Cobalt sat under edge of the ledge that the larger Seawing stood on, huddled together against the mist. It was heavier this close to the waterfall, their pelts quickly growing damp under the oppressive humidity. Cedar raised an arm to wipe his wet face, only rubbing more water into it from his soaked clothes. He may as well run over and jump into the flowing river at this point; it'd hardly dampen him any further. The mountaintop wind whipped and whirled around him and Cobalt, sending water vapor flying at them from all directions. It made their skin tingle as they curled inwards against the rock wall, playfully hiding themselves against the mist.

His eyes were squinted to keep the mist from flowing into his eyes, and his moist hair was plastered to his forehead. Despite these rough conditions, it was still somehow comfortable down here, both for him and Cobalt; for him, it reminded him of the humidity in the Rainforest, and for her, the chill was not unlike the freezing winds from the Icewing Kingdom. These wistful thoughts of home put them both at ease as they relaxed into one another's shoulders, the proximity only deepening their relaxation, despite the water-chilled blasts of wind in their faces.

Cedar wiped his brow again, still ineffective against the misty wind. "Whatd'ya think they're talking about now?"

"I don't know, same old shit?" Cobalt laughed. "'Sides, dragon whispering isn't my thing. You tell me what they're talking about." she nudged him on the shoulder.

Cedar turned to look at the dragons circled around them, squinting his eyes further to peer though the thick haze. He took a long moment to look around at them, studying their behavior. "I think..." he started, beginning to pick up a few more subtle details. "I think they're introducing themselves."

Cobalt's eyes widened a bit, then quickly slammed back shut under the crystal spray that engulfed them. "Really? This huge, cult-like gathering and they're _getting to know each other_?"

"It makes sense. This entire mountain seems like it's set up as a school. The new students are going around and talking about themselves, and I think the Seawing behind us," he turned his head to look up, where they could faintly see the mirage of the dragon through the mist, "is probably the teacher."

"Huh. That's… boring."

"It's weird, too. The Seawing looks like she's only about six."

Cobalt fell on her side in surprise. She sputtered, "Wh, What, what the fuck?! She's only six?! Just a glance and you know that _and_ she's a girl?!"

"I know, right?" Cedar offered an arm, which Cobalt pulled herself upright with. "Dragons mature a lot faster than humans, apparently. Moon's only four!"

"What? Bullshit! How do you know?"

Cedar leaned his head against the rock ridge, closed his eyes, and breathed a wistful sigh. "Because I saw her hatch myself."

Cobalt grew quiet. She stared at him, her eyes as wide as the fog would allow them to be. She whispered, softly, "What… What was _that_ like?"

What _was_ it like? Frightening? Peaceful? Sacred? Absolutely adorable? He wasn't sure, even though he remembered the night in perfect clarity; sometimes he still felt the itch of mud and sweat on every inch of his skin, sometimes he could still hear that violent roar that cut through the night.

"It's… kind of a long story," he sighed.

Cobalt leaned her head on his shoulder, much to his surprise. "I've got time."

Cedar looked down at her peaceful form, and smiled. He gently rested his head on top of hers, and sighed in content, his mind already rushing backwards through the memories, all the way back to the very beginning.

"I was running..."

* * *

"Can we get on with the discussion?" Winter said, exasperated. "What exactly is the point of this?"

"The point is to talk about whatever you want to talk about," Tsunami shrugged. She had relaxed from her proud standing position and had settled into a sphinx seat on top of the rock ledge. "To find out what dragons from other tribes think, and see things from a new point of view. I'm sure it'll be different when you have this class with Starflight or Sunny or Clay, but I, for one, think you guys should pick the topic."

"All right," Winter spoke slowly. "I want to talk about Nightwing powers."

Oh. Oh, no.

Moon squeezed her eyes shut and tried to block out the conversation, even though she knew that she probably should have been paying close attention, seeing as how it was very blatantly directed at her. Conflicted, paranoid thoughts and words rushed through her head, but for her it was in one ear and out the other. She needed a way out of this, some kind of excuse, without drawing any more suspicion on her. Winter wouldn't make it easy for her, either. Moons, she did _not_ need a panic attack today.

"There are thousands of dragons who are still terrified of the Nightwings – they deserve to know the truth." Winter spoke with a certain firmness in his voice, one that let Moon know she was not leaving this cave easily today.

"Well, nobody's sure what the truth is," Tsunami sighed finally.

"Nobody's sure?" Winter questioned, then turned his piercing blue gaze to Moon, who shied away from his glare. "We have one right here. This is all about understanding other tribes, isn't it? Can't we ask her?"

Three moons, the eyes staring at her expectantly was almost enough to make Moon bolt into the sky and fly away. Her neck sagged as she tried to force herself to not pass out on the spot.

"Moon doesn't know anything!" Kinkajou exclaimed, jumping from her spot. "She wasn't raised with the other Nightwings, her mother hid her in the rainforest. She's been told all the same lies as everyone else."

And now Moon had to force herself from proclaiming her love to Kinkajou on the spot.

"Oh." Winter visibly deflated right in front of her for the second time since she'd met him. He gave her a look, no longer of mistrust or hatred, but some kind of… confusion? She couldn't identify the emotions in his eyes, and he seemed conflicted about it as well. _Maybe I don't have to hate her after all,_ he thought. His brow furrowed. _But… she's still a Nightwing. Can I really trust her?_

"Look," Tsunami interjected, "the important thing is if that the Nightwings ever had powers, they don't anymore." She spread her wings outward rather majestically, the sun glimmering through the translucent royal pattern in her scales. "As long as everyone knows that, the Nightwings can't manipulate the other tribes ever again. So just remember that there's no mind-reading, and there's definitely no seeing the future."

Winter took a step forward. "But-"

"WHO WANTS TO GO HUNTING?!" Tsunami suddenly shouted, making everyone jump. Poor Leaf and Bandit must have had their hearts stop, sitting directly under her. "I know I do! Great idea, Tsunami! No arguing with the Head of School; off we go!" She shot off her ledge and shot into the sky and past the thin veil of the clouds.

"I guess that discussion is over," Carnelian commented with a snort.

Moon sighed in relief as she began to breathe normally again. Just as she was about to take off with Tsunami, however, Winter walked in her way. He looked inquisitive, like he somehow didn't understand her. His blue eyes held steadfast in her gaze, but withheld torrents of emotions she couldn't identify behind them.

"You say you don't know anything," Winter asked. He almost seemed to sound… Three Moons, was he feeling _shy_ about this? "But you know other Nightwings. You can find out the truth and come back to tell us. Right?"

Moon looked away from his frosty cold eyes, too afraid to look him in the eyes. "I, uhm..." The Nightwings were more likely to trust Winter with their secrets before they'd trust her, so she didn't see the point in his request. "I, uh, doubt they'll tell me anything, honestly, but I'll try?" she offered.

Winter's eyes narrowed. Moons, he was awfully close. "What do you mean? Why not?"

Oh, and there she goes again, talking too much. "It's, um, hard to explain."

_They wouldn't even trust one of their own? Are they that paranoid?_ Something darker lingered in the depths of his mind, something Moon couldn't make out. _Or is it something different than that?_ He shook his head. "I want to know everything about their powers. Were they ever real?" _Apparently, yes._ "How do we know they're gone?" _They're not._ "What else are they lying to us about?" _You have no idea._

He turned his head and coughed. _If I'm scary enough, she'll do what I want,_ he thought to himself. "I mean you. What else are you lying to us about?"

Qibli stepped in. "Hey, igloo-face, that's not cool."

"Yeah, Moon's in our winglet!" Kinkajou jumped up to support her, the ever-loyal friend she was. "We're supposed to support each other!"

"Well, _I'm_ with igloo-face." Carnelian rose and spread her giant orange wings, the sun shining through them like, glowing deep like fire. "If we're supposed to get all snuggly with each other, there shouldn't be any more secrets." Her gaze fell on little Moonwatcher, violence flashing through her burning orange eyes.

"Let's make her tell us everything."

* * *

"Uh-oh."

Cedar leaned forward to get a look at what was happening. Moon looked terrified; Prickface and Snarl had her cornered. Clown and the Seawing – he'd pick a name for him later – were trying to help, but couldn't do anything against the stronger dragons. He placed a hand on the ledge behind him as he rose to his feet. Cobalt snapped out of her relaxed stupor, and looked at him.

"Uh-oh? What's uh-oh, what's going on?"

"I..." Cedar paused for a minute, trying to process the events before him to find the right words. "...I think Prickface is being a bully?"

"To Moon?" Cobalt snorted. "About expected of him. Go slap him on the nose again, if it's bothering you." She leaned back against the wall again and relaxed. Cedar deadpanned in silence. Cobalt began to feel that his silence, combined with his disapproving expression, maybe meant that she said the wrong thing.

"What?! I can't do anything about it, you're the dragon-expert, go help your sister or something!"

Cedar closed his eyes. "Cobalt..." Again, he was at a loss for words. This seemed to be happening often recently. Maybe it was because he hadn't spoken to another human in years? Or was it just Cobalt's unwaveringly stubborn personality that was going to give him gray hair before 25?

He, eventually, found the words he was looking for. "If you ever want to be seen as more than a pet to Prickface, then you have to show it."

This time, the silence came from Cobalt. She stared up at him from the cave floor, her eyes fighting against the ever-present mist, her mouth hung open. She blinked. Her mouth closed as she firmly tightened her lips. Cedar closed his eyes and sighed again. Aaaaand…

"Of all the stupid shit you've said since yesterday, that was the _first_ thing that made any sense... and it's still insane."

Cedar's eyes shot open as he heard her stand up. What?

"If I'm going to be living with dragons for stars knows how long, then _I'd_ better be the one to put them in their damn place. Gimmie a minute."

Before Cedar could say a word, she had already shot off towards Prickface and Moon. He stood behind, stunned for a few moments. Cobalt willingly going anywhere towards a dragon? Considering her (entirely irrational) fear of them, maybe she'd lost her mind by now.

He shook his head and began to run after her.

* * *

"Ack!"

Everyone turned to Winter, who had suddenly shouted in pain. His head was low, and he was shaking one of his talons out, glaring at Bandit, who had managed to sneak up on him and kick him in the paw with his small feet. He was a lot stronger than they gave him credit for, apparently.

"SQWIBBLE SKRABBLE SKOOL! WAB WOBBLE!" he squeaked, somehow even more angry than Winter. Moon spotted Leaf running to catch up before Bandit did anything that would get him eaten. Not that he would; Winter wouldn't let the culprit live.

Qibli snorted, before breaking into a full laugh. "Y-you have a tendency for getting scavengers to attack you, huh?" Winter stared death into him, but any retorts he had were overshadowed by another punch to his already abused talons.

"Ow! Quit that! What's wrong with you?" he tried shouting. All Bandit did was back up towards Moon and stretch his arms out protectively, as though trying to shield her. Leaf caught up and did the same at his side, both of them trying to protect Moon from both him and Carnelian.

_Oh. That's what this was about._

_Even the scavengers know I'm being a jerk. But at the same time, it's all I've ever known._

_Have I been wrong this whole time? Have _we _been wrong this whole time?_

His thoughts were interrupted by Carnelian's snort. "Arrogant igloo-face can't even control his own pets." Before he could respond, Carnelian jumped as Bandit ran over to her, too, just barely missing her with another swing. "If you don't get your rodents away from me, Winter, I _will_ eat them!" she snarled, barring her fangs at the two scavengers. Leaf remained steadfast in his defense, but Bandit faltered at the sight, his earlier fury having been crushed at the sight of the violent Skywing, whose sharp jaws grew closer and closer until -

"NO!" Moon cried, and quickly scooped up Bandit in her arms(with no small amount of complaint from the small scavenger). She held him against her chest, not unlike how she did yesterday, and sent a silent glare towards Carnelian. The two shared a threatening staring contest for a minute, before Carnelian snorted and flew off with Tsunami wordlessly. She wasn't worth her time.

Moon sighed in relief, before turning to Winter. "You should be more careful to protect Bandit," she spoke softly. Winter only stared back. Moon held out Bandit to him, which he slowly, carefully accepted.

"Hey," Moon broke the silence between them. "I'll try to ask the other Nightwings about our powers. But I want you do do me a favor in return."

Winter was immediately on guard. He knew he couldn't trust this Nightwing. "And _what_," he hissed, "might _that_ be?"

"Stop trying to scare me," she stated simply. Winter blinked, needing a moment to register what she had said. "You are not as terrifying as you think you are," she clarified. There was no malice, sarcasm or pride in her voice. She spoke honestly, as though she were just stating a simple fact.

As she turned to help Leaf climb on her back, Winter kept staring, dumbfounded. _Stop _liking _her!_ He screamed to himself. She was dangerous. She couldn't be trusted. He had to remain vigilant. Strike first. Nobody could be trusted. Especially not a Nightwing.

Even if that Nightwing shared his hobby and had pretty teardrop scales.

_No! Stop that!_

"Is that alright with you?" Winter shook his head to clear his thoughts; Moon asked him a question. Her vibrant green eyes gazed upwards into his deep navy-blue ones. He'd never seen that shade of green before in his life. It was bright and brimming full of life, yet held a certain wisdom behind it, something he couldn't understand.

"Winter?"

"O-oh, ah-" Winter staggered backward. _Three MOONS, STOP that! NOW!_ "Oh, u-uh, sure. Y-yes, that's alright."

She continued to hold eye contact a moment longer. Her radiant emerald eyes gleaned with mirth, but didn't look to mock him. She closed her eyes and smiled, before lifting her wings and launching herself into the sky, Leaf on her back.

His eyes followed her until her dark scales completely vanished from his view, and even then, he stared upwards through the open cavern ceiling. All alone, with every other dragon haven taken off by now. The thunder of the waterfall roared behind him, and the thin mist floated over his scales, but the room seemed oddly quiet all of a sudden. He blinked, and gulped. Who was that Nightwing? Why couldn't he get his mind off of her for the life of-

"OW!"

Bandit had punched him in the talons again.

He sent a murderous glare down at him, but the scavenger crossed his tiny arms across his chest defiantly. After a moment of standoff, the scavenger hollered loudly, before dramatically gesturing towards the hole that Moon had flown out of.

Right, he ought to catch up with the rest before Tsunami chewed him out. As he raised his wings, he felt Bandit's tiny paws on his talons again, but they didn't pound violently. They looked at each other in silence. He couldn't leave Bandit here alone. But at the same time, if he held Bandit in his arms, he wouldn't be able to hunt effectively…

Winter looked to his left. Nothing.

He looked to the right. Still nothing.

He was completely alone here.

He crouched down and offered a talon for Bandit to climb on to. "Get on."

* * *

"This happens when I'm happy. But if you'd prefer something more sedate..."

Moon had to cover her mouth when she nearly began to choke on the goat she was eating. Kinkajou's scales, upon her being asked about them, had shifted into the most _violent_ shade of lime-green and magenta Moon had ever seen, and she hoped to never see it again. Qibli yelled and covered his eyes, almost falling backwards at the sight. Leaf, who was sitting in the middle of the circle formed by herself and the rest of her winglet, quickly looked away from the eye-searing sight, looking at Moon with a "what-on-the-three-moons-did-I-just-see" expression.

Kinkajou laughed at their repulsed expressions. "No, I'm just kidding. I can be totally ordinary and boring, don't worry." Her scales shimmered and rippled into a dull, simple brown, similar to Umber's scales, who smiled at the sight. Kinkajou suddenly looked up, spotted something, and shouted-

"Winter!"

Moon whirled around at the same time Winter did. He was in the middle of regally sweeping past them, and paused to growl at Kinkajou. When his eyes crossed with Moon's, however, he stopped, and his anger almost seemed to vanish. His royal blue eyes, dark and void like a starless night sky, and her jade green ones, glistening like the rainforest canopy under the moon, bore into each other for a long moment. Winter's mouth hung open a small crack, as if he didn't know what to say. Strangely, his mind had gone quiet, eerily, reflecting his silence.

They only snapped out of it when Bandit had clambered up Winter's nape to holler at Leaf from below. Winter blinked and jerked backward, causing Bandit to fall forward onto the top of his head, which he was gently smacked for.

"Ow! Y-yes?" he asked, trying to maintain his regal composure.

"Don't you wanna sit with us?" Kinkajou asked, her scales turning into the same shade of arctic blue and pale white as Winters with a gleam. "I mean, since we're your winglet now, and everything."

Winter looked over everyone in the Jade winglet. But he wasn't sizing them up, as Moon noticed him look towards a group of other Icewings on top of a ledge nearby. He looked conflicted.

"Besides," Moon quickly added, "we wouldn't want Bandit and Leaf to get lonely." she wasn't sure what she was thinking saying that, but for once, it actually seemed like the right thing to say. A first for everything, she supposed.

"They won't get lonely." _Right?_ "Leaf has you, and Bandit has me." _Is that right? Do scavengers get lonely? Maybe that's why Bandit was so quiet those first few days, and now she's almost - __no, _is_ violent. __How many time__s__ is this Ni – Moon, going to make me feel like I've been doing this wrong the whole time?_ Moon cringed inwardly; she just wanted to teach him how to properly take care of a scavenger. Making him feel terrible wasn't a part of any of this.

"Please?" Moon asked, trying to ignore the suspicions running through Qibli's head. She'd wanted to avoid the frightening Icewing since she first saw him, but now, for some reason, she wanted to make this work. She'd, courtesy of Leaf and Bandit, seen a side of him that was more humble, a side of humility.

Look at her, fighting to make friends with a frigid Icewing. She wasn't very well-educated on tribal relations, but she knew for a fact that Icewings and Nightwings were _not_ friends. Moons, she'd be bullied about this for years to come if the other Nightwings found out.

Mother would be proud.

In her thoughts, she didn't notice that she and Winter were back to staring at each other again. What was that? What was going on? She'd have to figure it out later. Winter closed his eyes and sighed.

"Fine."

* * *

"They seem to be getting along a bit better than before." Cedar mentioned. He and Cobalt were in the middle of the circle formed by the group of dragons. They'd taken the time to name them all now. There was Moon, Sunshine, Snarl, Prickface(Cobalt insisted on the name), Clown, and they had named the Seawing Mist, and the Mudwing Ribeye. "In fact, he seems nicer in general. He even let you ride on his back now!"

"Yeah, what changed? He was about to claw her earlier."

"I think _we_ were the ones that changed him."

Cobalt laughed, and took another bite from the blueberry she was holding. "I guess we _did_ beat the shit out of him. Poor bastard."

Cedar frowned. "I wouldn't say we went that far, but you've got a point. They at least look like they're friends now." He turned to smile at Moon, who was sitting next to Prickface in their group. She noticed his grin, and sent a warm smile back his way. She was the best.

"Friends?" Cobalt snorted. "Prickface _clearly_ has the hots for her." Cedar gagged on the mango slice he was eating from.

"Wh-what?! How could he-"

"Oh _come on_. You're the dragon-expert. He's about to rip her face off, and now he's all cuddly? And did you see the way they were staring at each other for a solid minute!"

"I-I-I just assumed-!"

"Don't _worry_ about it, they're perfect for each other anyway. It's adorable! Big tough Prickface has a wittle cwush! It's fuckin' amazing!" she laughed, rearing her head back.

Cedar stared for a minute, his mouth open before he closed it and sighed. Not once in the four years he'd been with Moon had he considered the prospects of dragon romance. Not that he had to; the only other dragon around for miles was Mother. But now that Moon was attending a school and meeting other dragons, relationships became something important to consider.

Before he could stop it, the image of Moon, his sister, acting like a flustered schoolgirl with a crush popped into his head. He shook his head violently, desperate to never see it again.

* * *

**That last line makes me want to die but I'm putting it in anyway because why not  
**

**This chapter, which is shorter than the last one, took damn near two weeks to get out. And I'm sorry about that. I'd say that I'd try to make it shorter next time, but we know how that would go by now. These chapters take so long to get out that I feel like my writing style at the top of the chapter is different from at the bottom.**

**First of all, some of you have been asking about whether Cedar and Cobalt are eventually going to be able to communicate fully with Moon, Winter and the other dragons. Rest assured, while it will take a long time to reach that point, I am planning on it. How I'm _specifically_ going to deal with the language barrier, well, you'll have to find out yourself. I think you'll like it~**

**Next, the poll about who to ship Qibli with has been up long enough. I'll keep it up until, say, sometime tomorrow, but then I'm taking it down. I kind of regret putting it up at all, actually, 'cause now I can't really surprise anyone with who Qibli hooks up with. Oh, well.**

**On the matter of Carnelian. I'm conflicted on whether I should save her from the history cave bombing or not. On one hand, I really really really like the idea of a grumpy, war-hardened Skywing being thrown into all this. But on the other hand, if she lives, then there won't be a vacancy for Peril to take up when she joins the Jade Winglet. I could probably figure something out for all of this, but I need to make a final decision on this soon, because… you know what's going to happen.**

**Hailstorm. It's way too early to even think about him. I want to say that I want to eventually use him later anyway. I don't know how. I'll probably ship him with someone. I don't know who. No, there won't be a poll this time. Moving on.**

**Finally, I feel like my chapters get worse with every new installation. One one hand, "you are your own worst critic" and all that, I get that if anyone's going to see this as bad, it'll be me. But on the other hand, I genuinely feel like my writing quality has deteriorated since I've had to start relying on the books. The idea is that as I go on, the prompt of this story will have a snowball effect on how everything unfolds to the point where I'll eventually be able to rely on the books less and less. Until then, here we are with this… shit.**

**Eh, maybe I can edit this chapter to be better later on.**

**I gotta stop with these huge author's notes, man, it's way too much. Anyway, thank you for reading, and I'll see you again when I update again, possibly before the end of the month!**


	6. Dancing With Dragons

"Help! The Skywing! She's here to kill us all!"

_Queen Scarlet. She's come for us._

As the clamor of terrified voices filled the halls of Jade Mountain Academy, everyone in the library tensed up. Moon stared out into the hall, reeling from the sudden spike in feverish thoughts from the students outside. Leaf, on the back of her neck, hugged himself closer to Moon, uncertain and afraid. Kinkajou and Sora took a few nervous steps away from the door. Starflight stumbled away from his desk, calling out to the three.

"Find somewhere to hide. Don't let her see you." _Which way to the Great Hall? I have to get there. I have to protect them._

"Who?" Kinkajou jumped. "Who are we hiding from?"

Starflight didn't answer her as he went out into the cave, hurrying towards the Great Hall, brushing against the walls to guide him. Moon stepped forward to follow him.

"Aren't we hiding?" Kinkajou asked.

"Is that what you want to do?" Moon replied.

"No! I thought that's what you would want to do!" Kinkajou flared to life, her scales spiraling into mind-numbing colors. "But chasing after him to see what's happening is MUCH more exciting!"

As they both ran into the Grand Hall just behind Starflight, they caught a glimpse of the Skywing causing the chaos. Her scales were vibrantly orange, so much so that smoke seemed to rise from them, and her eyes were unsettlingly blue. While most dragons fled from the sight, Winter, Icicle and Carnelian stayed behind and watched the newcomer.

"Peril!" came a shout from behind them, as Clay barreled into the room. "You came!"

As they two embraced and conversed, Moon couldn't help but notice the burn on Clay's scales when they touched. When he let go, however, they vanished almost immediately, as if they were never there at all.

"I'll go ask Sunny where we should put you," Tsunami spoke, withholding a snappy comment towards Peril.

But as she stepped away from the Great Hall, Winter snarled, "She can't stay here! _That_ dragon killed more than twenty Icewing prisoners." Moon looked between Winter and Peril incredulously. "She was Queen Scarlet's favorite weapon. It's one thing to force us to work with deceitful Nightwings-" Moon winced. "and lowborn Sandwings, but a straight-up murderer? No one is going to stand for this."

"A lot of dragons have done things they need to be forgiven for," Clay mentioned. "Especially in the war. The agreement between the queens was amnesty for everyone, no grudges, no revenge."

As Winter bickered, Moon thought. This Skywing, who was shying away from everyone in the room except Clay, killing so many dragons? From what Moon was seeing, there was no way a dragon this bashful could be a murderer. But on the other talon, there were those flaming scales of hers, and there was a strange, unsettling glint in her eyes…

"Even Queen Ruby hasn't agreed to pardon that dragon," Icicle spoke up. "She's been banned from the Skywing palace, hasn't she?"

"All the more reason to welcome her here," Clay answered as he swept her away to find the others. But as Moon backed up to let the flaming Skywing walk past, their eyes met for a brief minute, and Peril glanced upwards to the top of her head.

"Is that a scavenger?" she asked, her earlier discomfort having been somewhat lifted. Moon shied back from her red-hot scales, pulling Leaf down out of sight with a talon.

"Y-yes, he is. Um… Please don't hurt him," Moon pleaded, not entirely sure what else to say. Peril stepped back, looking appalled.

"I won't hurt him! He's cute!" Peril protested, before adding with a shrug, "Well, I mean, I'll _try_ not too. Scarlet had scavengers fight in the arena a lot. I never liked it, even back then, 'cause I thought they were too cute for fighting. Too bad all the ones I tried to pet just caught on fire. Luckily, Scarlet never made me fight them in the arena. 'A waste of potential', she always said."

Moon glanced away and stepped back further. "Well..." This conversation wasn't exactly putting her mind at ease. "Don't… pet my scavenger, please."

"I'll be careful not to. I wish I could, though, his head-fur looks soft." Moon could feel Leaf shrink under her electrifying gaze. Peril looked down toward Moon. "What's your name, anyway?"

"M-Moon. Call me Moon."

Peril smiled. "It's nice meeting you, Moon." It wasn't a creepy, threatening smile either. It was a genuine smile. As she turned to walk out the room, Clay stopped in front of Moon, wrapping a wing over her like a blanket.

"Hey, Moon? That was a nice thing you just did. It'd be hard for Peril to make friends here, with her… reputation. Thanks for taking the time to talk to her."

A soft smile grew on Moon's features. She didn't exactly have a choice; Peril was the one who started the conversation, and it was pretty one-sided anyway. Still, she felt good about it. "G-glad I could help," she said.

As Clay walked out to show Peril around, Icicle glanced around the room. She looked where Peril was, the doorway she just left through, to Winter, and chillingly, on Moon. _This is too much,_ she thought, before turning to Winter. "I'm going to report this to Queen Glacier. I'll inform Tsunami of my temporary leave, and I'll be gone by morning."

Winter looked at her, alarmed. "You're going by yourself? No messenger?"

"This information is… sensitive. I have to deliver it personally," Icicle snorted. Winter held back an objection, biting his lip. Two deep gongs rang through the mountain, catching everyone's attention. Kinkajou jumped.

"Time for history! Come on, Winter!" she exclaimed, skipping down the hall. _How adorable, a Rainwing with a crush on my brother._

Winter followed Kinkajou, a faint embarrassed blush on his features. _She thinks it's funny, but if she knew what I've been feeling… who I've been thinking about…_

He shot a split-second glance at Moon, and ice encased his mind.

* * *

"...and that Skywing, get this, alright? That Skywing," Cedar rambled, yelling over the warbles and thuds of the chaotic orchestra of dragons around them, "was on _fire! __Fucking fire!_"

"What?! Why?" Cobalt shouted back. It was much easier for her to out-yell the noise in the cave.

"Not, like, burning alive or anything! Her _scales_ were _glowing hot_! She had to be careful to make sure she didn't bump into anyone! I've never seen anything like it!"

The two were crouched in the corner of a large-ish cave filled with dragons, almost all of them on some kind of instrument. From the deep warbles of didgeridoos to the strums of a harp to the claps of the drums, the whole room was filled with noise. There was little rhyme or reason to any of it; most dragons were doing their own thing, following their own beat. It was chaotic, every dragon sounding beautiful on their own, but the way they all fought to play on top of each other made the whole ensemble a mess.

Moon had ducked down close to them, not wanting to draw too much attention in this madness. She looked around at the other dragons, probably wishing she were confident enough to play and dance like them. She turned her head to look at the two, and Cedar caressed her snout with a hand as she smiled.

Suddenly, a Sandwing they recognized as Clown rushed past them, and made a beeline for a large drum set across the room. He hijacked it from a startled Skywing, and began to play with a fervor and passion Cedar had never seen before.

He played with his whole body, as though he were dancing along with his own beat, the powerful banging of his drums outplaying the entire room with ease. Other dragons, eager to get in on the intense beat, quickly re-adjusted their own playing to match Clown's. Slowly, the previously tumultuous orchestra began to play with a shared, steady rhythm, and the chaos was replaced with an elegant tone. And all the while, Clown kept playing the drums like they were his life.

"Damn, he's not bad!" Cobalt commented, as the beat reverberated through their bodies. They both began to tap their feet to the rhythm, with Moon nodding her head in sync alongside them. Cobalt started to nod, too, before she began rocking her whole body back and forth, and then finally, she stood up, and held out an arm to Cedar, asking casually-

"Dance?"

Cedar was taken aback; unsure of how to respond, he slowly stood from where he was, much to Moon's confusion, as she tilted her head at them. Once he was on his feet, though, Cobalt grabbed his hand and tugged him over to the center of the cave. Ignoring Moon's concerned yelp, and the curious stares of the dragons surrounding them, Cedar instead focused on how unsettlingly close Cobalt was to him. He stared into her eyes, them both being about the same height. She stared back expectantly, as though waiting for him to make the first move.

"Uh… I've, ah… never done this before..."

He gently took Cobalt's hand in his, their fingers interlocking. But as he slowly tried to wrap an arm around Cobalt's waist, her other arm grabbed his and she laughed.

"Come _on_, Cedar, are you seriously setting me up for the fucking _waltz_?"

With expert fluidity and grace, she suddenly swung Cedar around, until he was leaning backwards and Cobalt was standing over him, her arm around his waist keeping him from falling, their still-connected hands raised high in the air behind her back. The dragons collectively roared around them in amusement at the display.

Moon was still in the corner, debating whether or not she should do something.

Cedar was jolted back up with a startled yelp, and spun quickly and Cobalt twirled him around. She circled him as he spun, and tugged on his arm as he came to a stop, and he found himself holding Cobalt in his arms, opposite from before.

"U-uh-I-I..."

"Just relax and let me guide you."

And they spun like that for what felt like hours; Cobalt masterminding every step, every hand placement, every twirl, with Cedar barely managing to keep up with her fast pace and the rapid beat of the drums. They ran around the music room, weaving between the legs of some bewildered instrument-playing dragons as they jumped and swung throughout the room, the other dragons watching with growing interest. As Cobalt critiqued his poor footwork, Cedar could see out the corner of his eye that even Moon was staring at them in amazement.

Cobalt saw, too.

"Moon seems to be enjoying this," she commented offhandedly as Cedar lifted her up in the air in a dramatic whirl. Cedar could only nod dumbly.

"Yeah," he mumbled, too focused on their movements to think straight.

"Why doesn't she join us? It'd be fun." Cobalt grinned.

"Yea - wait, huh?" Cedar began to think again once he noticed he and Cobalt came to a stop. Their hands broke apart, leaving a cold void in Cedar's palms, as Cobalt sprinted over to where Moon was.

"Hey Moon, get up, stop moping, dance with us!" she shouted, tugging on Moon's talons. Moon backed further away, shaking her head. Cedar took a step forward; Maybe this wasn't a good idea, Moon wasn't the type to act very openly, much less dance. Cobalt let go of her talons and was instead pulling on her wing now.

"C'mon, please?" Cobalt pleaded. As if they could hear her, the other dragons roared in agreement. Moon looked around, panic falling over her features. Cedar ran over; he needed to do something.

He gently ran his fingers over the scales on her neck as he approached her. "It'll be alright. I promise." He slid his hands up her neck and going down the side of her head, until his fingertips were just barely dangling underneath her chin. He slowly walked backwards into the center of the cave, and as he did, Moon rose from her sitting positing to follow him, keeping his fingers touching her head as they moved.

The other dragons smiled and cooed in support, while Moon only grew flustered and tried to move away from their gazes. Cedar reached out a cool hand and touched Moon's cheek, moving her head to focus on him. "Just look at me. Nobody else, don't even think about anyone else, just look at me, and everything will be fine." Her deep, timid emerald eyes stayed glued to his, her earlier apathy melting away as they reached the middle of the cave, every dragon watching them intently.

Clown hooted something while still violently playing the drums. Moon ignored it.

Cedar shifted his hands so they were on either side of Moon's head now. He began to move his feet the same way he remembered doing with Cobalt; quick, fast-paced, fluttering above the ground. He began to spin with Moon, the two twirling and dancing the same way he did before. Moon was slow to catch on at first, having a hard time translating his two-foot dance number to her four talons. Eventually, though, her movements began to grow more graceful and, soon, more extravagant. Her wings unfurled and her tail smacked the ground with the beat as the other dragons roared in approval. Soon, it was Cedar who had a hard time keeping up, having to let go and step away to give Moon the space she needed to dance freely.

In a daring move, she jumped up on her hind legs and began to dance as Cedar and Cobalt did before, twirling and stepping through the cave as the other dragons continued playing and roaring in support. Her wings were up high now, almost scraping the cavern ceiling, her fore legs waving through the air before her as though she were conducting a beautiful orchestra. Cedar and Cobalt stared wide-eyed up at her movements and, for a split second, as the music came to a dramatic crescendo, Cedar could see the look of content on Moon's face, her eyes closed, the corners of her mouth curved upwards in a bashful smile.

And when the song came to a final, ear-splitting thump, Moon gave one final twirl, landing just in front of the cave entrance.

Face-to-face with a certain Icewing.

* * *

"W-Winter!"

Moon's previous elegance from not a second ago vanished into thin air, and she stumbled back onto four legs, barely stopping herself from completely falling on her back. When she was steady, she looked back up at Winter, blood rushing to her face. Winter was staring at her, too, his face a faint shade of blue. He was slack-jawed, blinking rapidly, desperately trying to re-find the words he wanted to say just moments before he walked in on her dancing.

_I – what - was Moon – dancing – why – walked in – Qibli on the drums – beautiful – stupid –_

Moon blinked, not sure what to make of his thoughts. They kept going for a split second, before running back and starting over, leaving every train of thought unfinished.

She only noticed how embarrassingly quiet the music cave had become to suddenly, when Bandit began applauding loudly, his rapid claps filling the sound of the cavern. Leaf tried to shush him with no avail. Winter blinked again, and stepped back, as if he were just shaken from a trance.

"M-Moon."

"...H...Hello."

There was a sudden series of rapid thumps behind Moon, who turned to see Qibli was back to playing the drums again. Kinkajou snagged a bassoon from an unsuspecting Nightwing next to her and began playing a quick, fluttery tune with Qibli. Soon, all the other dragons were back to playing music as though nothing had happened, and nobody's attention was on her anymore.

Except for Winter's, of course.

He opened his mouth to speak, but all that came out was a hitched breath as he took back whatever he was going to say. He looked away toward the cave floor again. Apparently, his talons were looking astonishing today.

_Argh, how do I say this? Do I just ask her outright? Should I ease into the conversation? No, too easy to make things worse. You're a disgrace to the royal Icewing lineage, Winter! Your brother would never have been so weak!_ The crease in his brow deepened, and Moon took a deep breath as she decided to help him out a bit.

"Is there something on your mind?" Ack. Could she have possibly picked a worse choice of words?

Winter jumped a little at the sound of her voice, then had to force himself to hide his glare. _On my mind? Are you trying to imply something, Nightwing?_

"You, uh, you had a kind of… frustrated scowl on your face," Moon quickly added, hoping to quell Winter's suspicions.

He blinked. _No, stop that for just a minute. I need her help,_ he thought. "Yes, actually," he spoke slowly. "I wanted to ask you something about Leaf."

Moon wasn't expecting that. "What is it?" she asked.

"How..." Winter looked away again, picking his words carefully and deliberately. "How… come you and Leaf… your relationship is… close. But… how come I can't do that with Bandit?"

Now this Moon _really_ wasn't expecting. "What do you mean?"

"You see..." He squeezed his eyes shut. "Can we go somewhere quieter? It's too noisy in here to have a coherent thought."

"Sure. Does the library sound alright?" "Yes." With that, Moon called out to Leaf, who was leaning up against the cave wall next to a tired Bandit, both of them breathing heavily from their energetic dance. Leaf's head shot up, and he nudged Bandit, before the two of them jogged over to Moon and Winter. Moon shared a brief hug with Leaf as he wrapped his arms around her neck lovingly, before swinging his leg over to get in a comfortable seat. When Moon looked up, however, she noticed Bandit and Winter struggling to cooperate.

"Come on, just let me carry you."

Bandit crossed his arms defiantly. "SKWIB BOBBLE!"

"_Please?_"

"SKABBLE!"

Winter sighed in frustration. "You see what I mean now?"

Moon reached out her talons gently, before carefully wrapping them around Bandit with little protest from the scavenger. She lifted him up and placed him safely in Winter's awaiting talons. He looked annoyed, but only snorted.

Moon smiled up at Winter. "I guess you just have to be gentle," she laughed.

Winter stared at her. _How did… does she just have a way with them?_ "Let's… get going to the library." Winter said, with no small level of confusion in his voice, as the two ducked out of the music cave, and the loud banging of drums faded away behind them.

* * *

"So what... exactly... is the problem?" Moon asked tentatively. She and Winter had uneventfully brought their scavengers to the quieter, more peaceful library. She was constantly being overwhelmed by the noise of other dragon's thoughts no matter where she was, but in the library even that seemed more silent. She supposed the lack of people in the room helped; whereas the music room had two whole winglets in it, this room only had Fatespeaker and Starflight, with the former reading to the later, Sunny, who was sorting some scrolls, Kinakjou, Winter and herself.

"Did I hear Carnelian with you?" Starflight asked them.

"Yes," came a voice from behind them. Moon flinched, she didn't see her there. The Skywing went to check if she had gotten any letters, which she read from the darkest corner in the room. Moon nervously turned back to Winter, who had set Bandit down on the cave floor.

"I have a cage for him somewhere. Should have brought it," he mumbled. Moon tried to ignore how angry and resentful he felt about needing to ask for help.

"No, you shouldn't have," Moon insisted. Winter gave her a funny, sideways glance.

"Why not? If I don't have it, he might escape."

"That's the problem," Moon said simply. Noting his confused glare, she continued. "He wants to escape. If you form a bond with him, you won't have to worry about him escaping in the first place."

As she spoke, a frustrated crease grew on Winter's features. "And how am I supposed to 'form a bond' with him? He's just a scavenger!"

"And _that_," Moon couldn't help the slight edge in her voice, "is the first step. Bandit is not 'just a scavenger.' In fact, he's probably just as smart as you and I are. I know Leaf is." She and Leaf smiled at each other before she turned back to Winter. "You have to treat him like an equal."

She could hear Winter bite back a smart comment before he spoke slowly. "How… do I go about doing that?"

Kinkajou spoke up. "Carry him around with you, share some of your food, give him hugs! That's what Moon does!" Moon nodded, and Kinkajou's smile grew ecstatic. _I KNEW IT! I WAS RIGHT!_ She mentally cheered for herself.

"You have to learn to trust him, and have him trust you," Moon added. "That's the whole point of this."

Winter looked at Bandit for a long moment, holding in a breath. _Maybe… maybe she has a point after all. But still…_

"What's wrong with his behavior right now?" Winter asked out of the blue. "He's always either hiding in his fur pile or trying to hurt me. Always, except for..." He trailed off. _Except for when…_

"Except for when… he's with Leaf." Moon finished for him. She chose to ignore the flare of suspicion he felt. Before either could say anything more, Kinkajou practically exploded.

"You think they're in _LOVE_?!" Kinkjou shouted, making everyone in the room wince. Fatespeaker had to shush her from across the room, but Kinkajou remained standing, her wings raised high up in the air. Moon and Winter both hesitated to respond to the awkward atmosphere.

"Ehh..." Moon let out a nervous chuckle. "Maybe?" Winter studied the two scavengers before them, apparently terrified from Kinkajou's outburst. _Can scavengers… do that_? He thought.

"Maybe he's depressed and just wants a friend?" Sunny walked over to them and looked at Leaf and Bandit. "Webs was like that for a while after the Summer Palace attack. He didn't get out of bed for months."

"Oh, poor little Bandit," Kinkajou said.

"Webs is a _dragon,_ Winter mentioned. "This is a scavenger." Before he could say more, Moon interrupted him.

"And we have _already determined_ that they feel emotions just like us," Moon pointed out, daring to shoot a glare back at Winter. "Maybe he could be lonely."

"That's true!" Sunny spoke up. "Scavengers usually live in packs. Although I met one who was happy with just the company of dragons for a long time, but Flower was kind of special."

Moon gently nudged Leaf with her snout, who returned with a large hug around her nose. "Leaf's like that, too."

"Bandit might be special," Winter huffed. Moon just gave him an encouraging smile as she rose up from Leaf's hug.

"On the other talon, maybe it doesn't have to be a 'special' thing," she said. "Maybe you can make it happen yourself." _Like I did with Leaf._

_By 'forming a bond' with him, yes._ Winter sighed. "So what? Should I get _another_ scavenger, just to keep this one happy? What if _that_ one is depressed, too?" But just as the words left his mouth, he and Moon reached the same conclusion. Moon lowered her head down again and, this time, nudged Bandit with her snout. He didn't hug back, but he did give a sort of sideways smile, and rubbed her nose with his tiny paws.

"I don't think you have to. There's another one right here."

Winter regarded her for a minute before speaking. "So you're suggesting we set up these… _play-dates_ for our scavengers?"

"Would it be more 'play' or more 'date'?" Kinkajou thought aloud.

Sunny brightened up at the idea. "That'd be perfect! Your scavengers would both be happy, you would learn more about them, and maybe you two can even learn more about each other along the way!"

Winter averted his gaze at the last part. _Learn more? About Moon? Is that… wise? Is… is that what Hailstorm would want me to do?_ Moon caught a brief flash of an older, more upbeat Icewing in Winter's mind before he shut the memory out with resentful vehemence.

Moon thought about it, too. Winter seemed unnecessarily, well, cold, to everyone, especially to her in particular. But underneath his icy exterior, Moon had seen a side of him even he refused to acknowledge. If she could learn more about it – properly, without cheating and using her mind-reading – maybe she might be able to make another good friend. Mother would like that, wouldn't she?

"Is that… alright with you, Winter? I think it sounds… nice." Moon asked him. Winter contemplated the two scavengers before them, and strangely, took a long look at her face, before he sighed.

"...I'll give it a try."

Kinkajou and Sunny both beamed. "I KNEW you guys would make up and be friends!" the Rainwing shouted, having to be silenced once again by Fatespeaker. Moon, in a bold move, tried to give Winter a friendly nudge. But in response, he only glared and shifted away.

_Right. He still doesn't trust me. He just wants what's best for Bandit._

_But maybe… I'll get a chance to change that with these… 'play-dates'?_

As she had that thought, the sound of talonsteps could be heard from the library entrance as Sora stepped in, shyly. "Um… do any of you know where Icicle is, by any chance?"

Winter gave a snort. "She flew off this morning to give a report back to mother. Why she didn't just send a messenger is beyond me, but she's not here right now."

"She's not?" Sora asked. Moon could feel horror creeping into her mind, as her heart began beating faster.

Winter raised an eyebrow. "...No? Why do you need her? I can talk to her once she gets ba-"

"NOPE, that'll be, uh, fine, th-thank you!" she nervously stammered. "I, uh, I just remembered I, ah, that I have to be somewhere! See you, bye!" Before anyone could stop her, she bolted the other way at record speed.

A long silence followed her departure. "What was _that_ about?" Fatespeaker asked.

Kinkajou shrugged offhandedly. "I dunno. Probably nothing."

* * *

Cobalt sat in her cage that evening, thinking.

Earlier that day, Prickface, Moon and Sunshine had all surrounded her and Cedar and were talking among themselves, likely about them. Cedar had paid keen attention to their behavior, and shared with her the theory that Prickface might be trying to figure out how she was acting.

"He's probably asking her how to get closer with you. I mean, me and Moon have a pretty good relationship, while the one between you and, er, Prickface, is a lot more violent, especially on your side. No offense, of course." he had said.

None taken. She actually saw it as a compliment.

She suddenly heard talonsteps approaching, and rolled her eyes as Prickface walked into the cave, staring at her oddly from the doorway.

"Hey, fucker."

He walked closer, craning his neck to get a closer look at her, squinting his eyes to pour over every detail, as if scanning for any imperfections.

"Checking me out, loser? Can't even get a dragon bitch to gawk at, so you have to settle for me instead?"

Despite her words, she couldn't hold in her gasp when he reached up to her cage door and, with a loud creak of metal, swung the cage door open. But instead of reaching in and scooping her up, he quickly darted into his bed to the side, watching her from the corner.

Cobalt, naturally, only stared back.

What was he doing? Was he letting her go? Was this a trust act? Is this what Cobalt was talking about? Was he trying to… _bond_ with her somehow?

_Yeah, fat chance, Frosty the Edgelord! I'm out!_ Cobalt rose from the furs littered around her cage, and took a step out the door, ready to make a break for it. But before she could jump down, she made the mistake of turning her head to take one last look at the Icewing.

He was huddled down and into the corner, one of his wings unfurled, invitingly. His eyes were wide, and his expression seemed hopeful, but also a little sad? Noticing her stare, he quickly patted the ground next to him with a talon.

Was he trying to… get her to _sleep_ with him?

Wait. No. Ew. Dial it back.

Cobalt shook her head and got another look at him. His head was low, resting on his talons, as he stared back up at her. He looked nervous about this. It was kind of cute.

_Back. Back back back back back._

She took another step towards the entrance. A low, sad rumble rose from his throat. Cobalt clenched her eyes closed and cringed at the sound. She tried to deny it, but it broke her heart, watching this Icewing try to make amends with her, and here she was, tuning him out in favor of escape. He was undoubtedly an asshole, but… maybe everyone deserved a second chance, right?

With a deep, reluctant sigh, she slowly turned back to Prickface, who perked up a little at her movement. She took a few small steps towards him. He breathed slowly, never breaking eye contact. She was soon close enough to touch him. She reached her hand out towards his snout, barely tracing her fingers over his cool scales, like she recalled Cedar doing a lot. The Icewing closed his eyes and, gently as can be, moved his snout to meet her hand.

Cobalt's breath hitched. She was… petting him. She wasn't forced to be here, and wasn't trying to smack him, for once. This was all her. She moved her other arm to touch his nose again, and soon found herself resting her full weight on his snout, giving it a wide hug with both arms. His cool scales thumped steadily with life under her. She pushed herself off of him, and traced her hands down the sides of his face, down his neck, down to his chest. She knew what he wanted by now.

She laid down against him, wrapping one of his large arms around her. She smiled as she felt his heart rate rise, and his other arm wrap around her as well. His wing furled back in to surround her. Cedar was right; it _was_ just like a big, leathery blanket.

Feeling giddy, she gave Prickface's torso a tight hug. _Stars, I never imagined this would feel this… _weird. _In a good way. Who knew Icewings could be so damn... CUDDLY?!_

As she relaxed into his icy, pale scales, she slipped into the deepest sleep she had gotten in a long time.

* * *

_**God dammit I need to stop writing these ****enormous**** authors notes it's ridiculous**_

**Also HAHAHA WADDLES I UPDATED A DAY EARLIER THAN I SAID I WOULD! BET YOU DIDN'T SEE _THAT_ COMING! MUHAHAHAHAHAHA!  
**

**First off, I want to thank you all for the encouragement you gave me after my self-deprecating spiel from the AN of the last chapter. You're all the best, and with life IRL getting a bit rough, it's nice to hear your kind words. Of course, even if my writing quality isn't dropping, doesn't mean I won't always be trying to make it better. You deserve nothing less than the very best, and I want to do all I can to ensure that's exactly what you get. :)**

**About the story.**

**You may have noticed that, so far, I've skipped over all the scenes from the book involving Darkstalker. He's still here; I just haven't written anything with him in yet because I don't think it'd be affected by this prompt in any significant way, so I just left it out for the time being.**

**Speaking of which, I'm actually not sure how I'm gonna defeat Darkstalker. No, guest reviewer, I don't plan on him being defeated in a 1****v****1 against Cedar. However, I've heard a lot of complaints about the Peacemaker solution from the books, since it was hypocritical of them to go on about how using magic to change people ****was wrong****, and then turn around and do that exact thing with Darkstalker. Yes, "morality is subjective" and all that, but it still felt **_**wrong**_**. ****I have a few ideas floating around my head, but nothing concrete yet. I'm open to any reasonable suggestions.**

**I've also skipped out on the entire part with Mightyclaws in the painting cave, mostly because the scene was mostly influenced by Darkstalker and I'd basically just be copying from the book again. I might be able to squeeze it in after this chapter for reasons I'm about to explain, but I don't know if it'd actually be that important to the story.**

**I think the most important part of this chapter is that Icicle left before the history cave bombing, and thus Sora never did it. Icicle, in the books, sends a messenger to Glacier about Peril, but in this story I made her go personally ****for **_**reasons I can't tell you about yet**_**. So, she's gone, Winter feels slightly less like he's being judged all the time with her not there, and the history cave bombing is delayed until she returns. That gives me a **_**ton**_** more time for character development and bonding, which is always good.**

**How was that dance scene? It's kind of hard to imagine a dancing dragon, to be honest, so I just kind of pulled that whole scene out of my ass. Hopefully, it was believable enough.**

**I've also realized that, apparently, some of the Arc 2 books overlap each other, like some things in Book 7 happen at the same time as some things in Book 8, as with books 9 and 10. So, to plan this out and make this work as best as possible, I think I'm gonna spend some time skim-reading the entirety of Arc 2, so next chapter might take even longer to come out.**

**On the bright side, I'm finally done with the track season, so chapters should also start coming a little faster, too!**

**Thanks for reading and I'll see you in the next chapter, whenever that may be!**


	7. Dragon Ears are Soft and Floppy

Moon woke up the next morning to the sensation of Leaf gently stroking her neck. Her eyes fluttered open, adjusting to the dim light of her sleeping cave, before turning her gaze to the tiny scavenger. He withdrew his hand, surprised at seeing her awake, but Moon just smiled and craned her head down to his. With a soft _boop_, hardly even felt, the two bumped noses together. The Eskimo kiss had become a sort of symbol for them; a way for them to properly express how glad they were to have met that fateful night.

With a quiet yawn, opening her mouth wide, she unfurled her wings and stretched herself out. Once the screaming in her joints was replaced with a dull exhaustion, she moved her head back down so that Leaf could hop on. Swinging his leg over her neck, he fastened himself just behind her head, giving her a small pat to confirm he was ready. Moon rose up once again, and finally took a look around.

Strangely, Kinkajou and Carnelian weren't here. She at first thought they had left for their first class without her, but then she remembered that today was an off-day; there were no classes. All Moon had to worry about today(aside from _everything_) was Winter's, er, "play-date".

He never specified a time for that, did he? Moon figured the first thing she would have to do today was find him and ask about it. However, with a low rumble in her stomach, she was firmly reminded of something else that would have to come first today instead.

As she walked down the caverns on her way to the prey center, she picked up on a strange humming noise. Her eyes scanned the cave, and she turned her head slightly to look behind her. Nobody was around right now; it was awfully quiet, aside from the humming. She never seemed to be getting any closer or further away from it. Then, she blinked, suddenly realizing that Leaf had been humming to her the whole time.

It was a strange tune; she felt it was familiar in some way, but couldn't place where she had heard it before. Maybe he had hummed it before when they were younger? It was slow and melodic, as she was once again struck with the realization that he was humming to the rhythm of her talonsteps echoing across the rocky cavern floor. She tried to look at him, no easy task with him on her neck, and he paused. With a smile, he opened his mouth and began fully singing.

His words were entirely unintelligible, but aside from that, Moon couldn't help but smile at his small performance. He wasn't a bad singer, for a somewhat high-pitched scavenger. Content, she turned her head, and kept walking to the prey center, smiling all the way with Leaf's voice at her back.

* * *

"_What's the dream… That runs cold, a-after dark?..."_

Cobalt was sitting on the ground, her back resting against Prickface's chest, as the two sat down in the dragon's… eating chamber. Of some kind. With a large chunk of sticky pineapple in her hand, its juices dripping down her hand, she leaned back, smiling. Glancing out the corner of her eye, she saw Prickface trying to talk with some other Icewings. She wasn't sure what about. She didn't give half a shit anyway.

The large cavern was noisy, even if it did seem a bit quieter than normal. Must be a slow morning. Despite that, even through the (mild) chaos of the dragons all rushing to get their fill, a familiar human voice that she could faintly hear quietly resounding from around the corner was something to get her attention. She leaned forward off of Prickface's chest as she listened more intently.

"_And it can re-cog-nize you, anywhere, of, co-o-o-ourse..."_

Cedar was nearby, that much was certain, but was he actually _singing_? To Moon? She couldn't place the tune. His singing voice, at least what she could hear of it, was… very unlike his regular voice. A bit higher, lighter. Somehow warmer, even.

"_The garden scene… feels empty, a-and divorced..."_

She spotted them; Moon had been walking around the cave, trying to find a place to sit down and eat. In her talons, she held two bananas and a bunch of blueberries. Did Moon eat fruit, too? Every Nightwing she'd seen at this damned school so far ate mostly meat, either completely raw or charred black. At least _she_ seemed to have some taste, good on her.

"_Yet it can pa-ci-fy, you... anywhere, of, co-o-o-o-_"

He stopped abruptly. From where she was sitting, she could see him raise his arm and wave over to her, a big dumb grin plastered on his face. She halfheartedly waved back with her open hand, not quite ready to leave her relaxed state.

When he stopped, Moon looked up at him in confusion, then to where he was waving. She must've been caught in Prickface's perpetual glare, as she quickly looked down, averting her gaze. Her head jumped from corner of the cave to corner, looking for somewhere she could eat where she wouldn't have to talk to the Icewing.

Cobalt could kind of see why.

* * *

"Good MORNING, MOON!" exclaimed Kinkajou as she darted up to Moon. She jumped at the sudden greeting, but smiled and gave a nervous chuckle once the initial shock wore off.

"Morning, Kinkajou," she said. She twined her tail with Kinkajou's as the Rainwing nuzzled her head into the crook of Moon's neck. From where he sat, Leaf leaned down and stretched out an arm to give Kinkajou a pat on the head. She looked up to see the scavenger, then rose up, as though realizing something.

"I heard Leaf singing something earlier! What was it?" she asked. _It was pretty!_

Moon shied away bashfully. "I, uhm, I don't know. I think he might've sung it to me before, when we were… younger, but… I don't know."

Kinkajou blinked. _Younger? Oh yeah, Leaf's been with her since she hatched! I wonder what life was like back then? OOH, I should TOTALLY ask her that!-_

"Moon." came a familiar, cold voice from behind her. Moon swore she almost touched the cavern ceiling from how she jumped.

_-...when I get the chance later._ Kinkajou thought dejectedly, before immediately perking up again. "HI, WINTER!" she squealed. Said Icewing notably cringed at her shrill voice, before recomposing himself.

"Hello… Kinkajou." He regarded her dismissively, before turning his cold eyes on Moon. _Where do I begin…?_

"Hi, uh, Winter..." Moon said nervously. "Uhm. About that, ah, thing, we were gonna do..."

"You mean the SCAVENGER PLAYDATE?!" Kinkajou shouted. Three moons, she was loud. It took Moon and Winter a few seconds to recover from the assault on their ears. Winter opened his mouth slowly, trying to pick his words.

"Er… no. It's a scavenger… research… session." _That sounds good. Strictly professional._

"Y-yeah." Moons, this was awkward. But why, though? Like he said, er, thought: strictly professional. Should be fine, right? What was going on? Was she still awful at being social? She shook the thoughts away and turned to Winter. "Uh, what time would work best for you?"

He considered. "After lunch? In the lake cavern?"

"Lake cavern?"

"There's a large cave deeper down with a lake in it. Heard about it from a Seawing. Simple as that." He replied offhandedly. He spoke in a monotone, as if he wanted this conversation to be over. She couldn't blame him; she wanted it over just as much.

"Oh. Uh, perfect. I'll, uh, meet you then." Moon said, trying to give a weak smile. Winter just huffed and stalked off wordlessly.

There was a long moment of silence.

"I think that went rather well," smiled Kinkajou, chipper as ever.

* * *

"What're we doing?" asked Cobalt.

It was an honest question. She and Cedar both had a nice fruit lunch, when they were suddenly picked up and taken down into this damp underground lake. Granted, it was a nice lake; When the dense clouds parted, the midday sun shot through a gaping hole in the cavern ceiling and glanced off of the green, mossy water, leaving a bright sheen in its place. Tall, hulking rock formations towered above them, holding the ceiling up like massive, rocky arms. It was a cloudy day, looked like it could rain at any moment. When the sun was covered, it left a thick atmosphere of gloom in its place.

But it was… How to describe it? It was a nice gloom. A serenely gloomy day by the calm lake. Cedar could probably have a nice nap where he was.

He took a deep breath in, letting the moist air flow up his nose and fill his lungs. Stars, the _smell_. The air was flooded with the cool, wavy scent of the mossy underground cavern, blending perfectly with the cool aroma of the oncoming rainstorm from above. Cedar felt a chill run up his spine; if he ever decided to take up meditation, he'd definitely come here again.

A hand snapped in front of his face, and he blinked, falling backward.

"I asked you a question. What's going on?" Cobalt asked again, sounding impatient.

"Oh, ah-" Cedar sat back up, glancing around the beautiful cavern, trying to kick his brain back into focus. "They're, uh..." he studied the two dragons, who studied him back in return, captivated by his every movement. They sat opposite of each other, with he and Cobalt between them; no noise, no communication. "That's… um, ah..." It was as if they were the most interesting things in the world, the way they stared.

"...That's a good question."

"What?"

"I don't know what they're doing. They're just… staring at us." Cedar explained. He stood up slowly, keeping eye contact with Moon, who only cocked her head at his movement. Cobalt quickly joined him, springing up from the ground.

"Did we do something wrong?" she asked, struggling to keep the panic out of her voice.

"No, I don't think we did. I don't think we're in trouble."

"You don't _think_?"

"I'm _sure_ we're not in trouble."

"Prove it."

Cedar thought for a minute, shrugged, and calmly walked over to Moon. She perked up at his approach, and she and Prickface shared a few warbles. He laid a hand on her leg and began rubbing it gently. Moon lowered her head, and Cedar ran his hand up her neck, massaging the muscles under her scales with two hands now. She gave a low rumble of appreciation, flapping her large, leathery ears in his face. Cedar let go of her neck and began softly kneading her ears. Moon's purrs grew in intensity, as she rolled her head to the side to get closer to him. Cedar lowered himself back to the ground, and Moon followed him down, purring as she rested her head in his lap while he rubbed her ear.

Cedar smiled. She's adorable.

* * *

"...Moon, what are you doing?"

"I'm, ah, not doin' anything."

"Moon, whatever he's doing, make him stop."

"N-nuh, I dun't think I will. Dun wurry 'bout it."

"I thought this meeting was _strictly professional_?"

"It's a professional, er, playdate."

"..."

* * *

"Are… are you _scratching _her _ear_? Like a _dog_?" Cobalt asked incredulously. Cedar was sitting cross-legged on the ground as Moon wrapped her entire body around him, nestling the side of her head into his lap as he massaged her long, floppy ear.

"What? She loves it, and it's good for bonding." Cedar dismissed, moving one hand to rub at her neck again. If he had looked up, he would have noticed Cobalt turn to look at Prickface with a devious smile.

"You think Prickface would like it?"

Cedar paused his ministrations, just for a moment. He quickly resumed, redoubling his efforts as Moon purred into his chest. "You can give it a try. He might."

Cobalt turned on her heel and walked towards Prickface. When she was close enough, she waved her hand for him to come down. The Icewing craned his neck down to be at eye level with her, and Cobalt couldn't help but notice his disapproving glare in Moon's direction. Slowly, she reached her arm out, resting her palm against the tip of his nose, causing the dragon to blink in surprise. She carefully traced her fingers around the side of his face, feeling the ridge under every scale, caressing his neck and chin. Prickface kept deathly still, but his eyes were glued to her, unwavering.

Her nimble hands eventually grazed under his own ear. It violently flapped in reflex from the fleeting contact, and Cobalt quickly placed both hands down on his ear to settle it. The sudden touch made Prickface's eyes slam shut as he grunted, his muscles tensing up. Cobalt jumped back for a moment, before reapplying her hands more slowly. She tried whatever seemed to work; massage the base, rub the tip in circles with her thumb. His eyes were still shut tight, apparently forcing himself to not react.

That wouldn't do. "C'mon, just relax and roll with it, you big… fucking… ice cube." Throwing aside her poorly-constructed insult, she went for a more direct approach, quickly planting a single soft kiss on his cheek. She felt the Icewing slightly flinch back, somewhat surprised. His eyes opened, as he blinked at her. His muscles were no longer tense, so she suddenly began scratching his ear and chin again. A low, pleased rumble rose from his throat, and the corners of his mouth twitched upwards.

Cobalt smiled herself. That's more like it.

* * *

Moon giggled to herself. "It's nice, right?"

"N-No," he blatantly lied. Moon blinked when she saw Bandit press his lips against the side of Winter's face. It was an odd gesture; Moon wasn't sure exactly what Bandit meant by it, but some form of adoration was there towards Winter, who stared back at the scavenger with wide eyes.

"Did… did he just-?" Winter had a hard time getting the words out, distracted by Bandit's massage. Moon smiled.

"Maybe he likes you more than we thought." Moon thought out loud. Winter perked up a little at the suggestion.

"Really?" _That'd be good. Though this isn't how I expected to find that out…_ He didn't show it openly, but Winter seemed genuinely happy at the prospect of improving his relationship with Bandit. It was almost kind of cute, how internally giddy he was.

"Of course. You've been working on bonding, right?" He obviously was. Moon was certain he'd been putting his all into getting closer with Bandit. Winter, however, was not the best at social relationships, even with a scavenger. It was clear that he was _trying_ to be friendlier; she was more concerned about _how_ he was doing it.

"I have!" Winter needlessly defended himself. _Or at least, I've been doing my best too. Hopefully, it's working._ Before Moon could ask anything else, an image appeared in his mind of him in his sleeping cave, Bandit nestled close to him, his tiny arms wrapping around his chest as widely as they could stretch. What she noticed the most about the memory was just how genuinely _happy_ he seemed. He felt like he was doing something right, something he could be proud of.

Moon smiled. He'd be just fine.

* * *

"So how was iiitttttt~" Drawled Kinkajou later that day.

"Hm? Oh, it was fine," said Moon dismissively. Kinkajou leaned in closer, thirsty for more of the juicy details.

"C'mon, tell me more..." she begged. Moon sighed at her friend's antics.

"We really didn't do much. He came with Bandit, I came with Leaf, and we just sort of… hung out, I guess." She shrugged at her own response. Kinkajou gave her a knowing smirk.

"_coooommmee oooonnnn Mooooonnn, _I _know_ you did more than lay around all day! What's _one_ thing you actually did?" Kinkajou's prying was starting to get on Moon's nerves a little, but on the other claw, it felt good to have a friend who cared.

"Well..."

And she talked to her, telling her about her time with Winter and Bandit. She absentmindedly went on about how it felt like the scavengers were studying _them_ more than the other way around, and how happy Winter had seemed about it. For once, Moon rambled about her day while Kinkajou sat and silently listened, attentively absorbing every word. Meanwhile, Leaf was tucked under her wing, half-asleep in the cozy warmth. He sometimes listened, but mostly just let their voices be white noise as he faded into a comfortable sleep.

"And you're gonna go back tomorrow, right?" Kinkajou asked. Moon shrugged again.

"I suppose? I haven't really worked anything out yet. I'll have to ask Winter tomorrow." She was hardly paying attention to her own words. She was hardly paying attention to much of anything, just basking in the atmosphere of being with her brother and closest friend.

Kinkajou looked away for just a second, before saying, "You seem to like Winter a lot."

"Yeah," Moon blurted out, still paying no mind to her words. If she had been more attentive, she might have noticed Kinkajou's eyes light up bright enough to outshine the moons.

"G-Goodnight!" she laughed Moon waved back, before curling inwards around Leaf, making him even more comfortable as she embraced him fully.

…

Moon woke up in the middle of the night with a dumb blush on her face when she realized what she said.

* * *

**Oh my god I'm so sorry.**

**I admit, I kind of figured that this chapter would take a bit longer than normal to get out for various reasons in my own personal life. But I've had this document sitting on my computer for five _fucking_ months.**

**In that timespan, I've:**

**-Gotten in and out of summer break**

**-Been introduced to and finished seven parts of Jojo's Bizarre Adventure**

**-Started therapy**

**I've just lacked any sort of motivation to do anything, at all, these past few months. Occasionally I opened this document up to try to get _something_ down, but I just... can't do it. For a long time, I felt like anything I wrote was forced and terrible. I still kind of feel that way. It's been a hard few months, and I'm not exactly the same author I was when I posted the last chapter.**

**I still very much want to continue this story, but it's just hard to get off my ass and _do something_. Maybe I'm just lazy, I don't know. Delays and the occasional hiatus happen, but vanishing for almost half a year with my only excuse being "I didn't feel like it" is stupid. Words can't really express how sorry I am about it.**

**I've gotten PM's and reviews asking when this story will come back, and well, here it is. This isn't the "grand return" some of you may have been hoping; hell, it's a little under 3k words. Needless to say, I've lost whatever touch I had. To be honest, I'm expecting any future chapters to be short one-shots like this for the foreseeable future. Not that having short, loosely-connected bits is a bad thing, but I can't help but feel like I've let you all down.**

**I'm going to try my best to continue this story. I don't know how well it'll be, but my hiatus has gone on for too long.**

**As a final, unrelated note, the song Cedar was singing is "The Remote Viewer" by OCS. Their album "Memory of a Cut Off Head", despite the menacing name, is probably one of my favorite albums to relax and write to, and it helped me through not just this chapter but several that came before it.**

**I have no idea when the next chapter will be, but it's good to be back, and I hope I can be forgiven for this.**

**Thank you for understanding.**


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